Kitsune Legends
by Lady Okori
Summary: The Demon Guardian of the Western Gate to Hell and the Demon Leader of the Shinigami arrive on Ningenkai in 2 new jinchuuriki to fulfill their missions set to them by Kami. Leaf Sound War. Next generation. DISCONTINUED. 1st fic, totally blank. Plot holes.
1. Enter! Yin and Yang!

**Kitsune Legends**

Okay, before we get started, let me tell you that this fanfiction has been stuck in my head for at least a year (yes I'm weird) and when I space out (it happens a lot) I usually continue this little "story" in my head. All kind of reviews are appreciated (that includes flames...), but either way, even if I do get some flames, I will continue this story. Oh, and btw, this is my first fanfiction, lol.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, xD.

Key: "Talking"

'_Thinking'_

(This key will be updated as the story continues.)

* * *

**Enter! Yin and Yang!**

"Winner! Hakumei Mikiko!"

A silver haired femme collapsed onto the grass as she squinted her deep amethyst pools in slight pain. Her teammate did the same, clutching his stomach. They stared at each other for a few moments before the girl started smiling a little.

"Nice match Riku, you al-"

"Shit! Mikiko, couldn't you have slowed down a little?" he complained as he sat upright, now rubbing the side of his head where she had delivered a punch earlier. She sighed, getting up and dusting herself off. Throwing a tired look at Riku, she shook her head.

"Idiot. You know I can't do that. It's called a mock battle for a reason."

Riku sighed too as he sized up his teammate. Hakumei Mikiko, age 12. She had long silver hair that was tied in a low ponytail, leaving her long bangs to dangle about her face. Her black tank top only had one strap, which hung around her right shoulder underneath a metal shoulder guard. Her black knee-high capri's had white taijutsu bandages wrapped around her right thigh, underneath her shuriken holster. On her arms from the elbows down were more taijutsu bandages, ending at her knuckles. Over her hands she wore black half-gloves with a metal plate on top of both of them. Black ninja sandals and a black leather Hitai-Ate like a dog's collar around her neck topped off this outfit. Her ninja headband bore the sign of the Mist.

"Pervert."

Riku snapped out of his daze and glared at his other teammate as she hopped off the tree branch and landed next to him, grinning. '_Ha! I caught him in the act...'_

Hakumei Tsuki, age 12; and Mikiko's twin sister. '_Of course, whenever I say that they're the same age, she says that she's older. Like 12 minutes really makes a real difference...'_ he thought as he took the hand that she held out and got up. She wore a dark blue kimono that reached halfway to her knees. The sleeves reached her wrists, so they don't restrict her movements. It had a simple design with a few white cherry blossom designs here and there. Most of her legs were covered with white taijutsu bandages, with her shuriken holster on her right hip, and black ninja sandals, like her sister. Tsuki wore her hair up in a tight bun, with two steel senbons keeping her hair together. Her black Hitai-Ate was wrapped loosely around her petite waist.

Sighing again, he shrugged it off and walked to their jounin sensei, who had a thoughtful look on his face. His name was Hoshigaki Katsu, the current Mizukage's son, and one of the Mist's seven swordsmen. Riku rolled his crimson eyes at his sensei. '_I know that look. It's the "I'm-not-paying-attention look" ...damn. How did I end up with this cell?'_

Mikiko glared at the back of Riku's head as she walked, not liking being "inspected" by their pervert of a teammate. He had spiked brown hair and blood red eyes that seemed to notice everything. He had black cargo pants with dark blue ninja sandals. Riku wore a skin-tight black tank top and white taijutsu bandages were wrapped around most of his arms and hands. He wore his black Hitai-Ate in its proper place; on his forehead. She glared harder when she remembered yesterday, when they first became a genin team.

* * *

_Flashback:_

"_Alright Team 11, now that we're all here, let's go ahead and introduce ourselves," announced their new sensei as he sat them down inside an empty classroom. Groans erupted from the three, and Katsu grinned at their responses. Riku glared at him._

"_You should introduce yourself first! Besides, we all need to know what kind of crazed sensei we have now that we graduated..." he said as he crossed his arms. The twins nodded in agreement. _

"_Fine, fine...I know when I'm out-numbered..." he replied as he held his arms up in defense._

"_My name is Hoshigaki Katsu. I'm 26 years old. I like...working kids like you to death and S, A, and B-type missions. I hate bratty little kids who are impatient and loud. My dream is none of your business. You, with the attitude, your turn!" He pointed at Riku, who glared harder for a few more seconds. _

"_I'm Takamoto Riku, and I'm 12 years old. I love Iccha Iccha Paradise_ _books, flirting with pretty girls" he eyed the twins with a smirk, causing one of them to cringe slightly and the other to glare "and training. I hate doing something for a stupid reason and things that are boring. My dream...is to someday meet Jiraiya-sama and become a great fighter like him! Okay, done." He smiled at the effect his words had on his teammates. 'Hehe...this is going to be fun...'he thought happily._

"_Err...okay, next person. The twin that's not glaring, go." he said, sweat dropping at his students. 'At least it won't be boring teaching these guys...' he thought as he turned his attention to the silver haired girl, who cleared her throat after that uncomfortable silence._

"_My name's Hakumei_ _Tsuki, a 12 year old kunoichi! I love ramen, learning new healing techniques, and collecting little plushy cats. I hate standing still and being quiet. My dream is to become the greatest healer in this village and rival the power of Tsunade and Sakura!" As she said this Tsuki clenched her fists and a fire burned in her eyes. Riku and Katsu sweat dropped at her determination and both seemed to be thinking the same thing. 'I wonder what her sister is like...' _

"_I'm Hakumei_ _Mikiko, and I'm 12 years old. Obviously, I'm Tsuki's twin." She rolled her eyes a little. "I like training, learning new techniques, and quiet places. I hate people who look down on others and...perverts." Riku laughed nervously as she sent a death glare towards him. He scratched the back of his head as she continued. "My dream...is to kill a couple people who have done me and my sister wrong," she finished, her eyes becoming blank as she thought about her dream. Another awkward silence followed as some killer intent rolled off of the girl. Tsuki and Katsu sweat dropped again as they looked from Mikiko to Riku. Riku shifted in his seat uncomfortably. 'I wonder if she wants to kill me?' he thought as their new sensei clapped his hands to end the silence. _

"_Okay! Now that that's over, let's talk about a few things. In one week, after a few training sessions, I will give you a test to see if you really deserve to become Mist genin." he said with a happy voice. Mikiko spoke up. "What? But what about that other test we took just yesterday? Isn't that enough?" Katsu laughed heartily. "Nope! That test was just to weed out the weaklings. Now, the real fun begins!" He eyed his students as huge waves of killer intent washed over the kids, making them all shiver a little. "Tomorrow, we will meet at training area 34 at 7 a.m.! Don't be late or I'll send you back to the academy so fast your heads will spin!" and with that he made a few seals and poofed into a cloud of smoke. Tsuki got up and clapped her hands together, grinning widely. _

"_Okay! Now that Katsu-sensei's gone, let's go out to celebrate graduating! Let's go to that new ramen shop, okay?" she said excitedly as she grabbed Mikiko and Riku's hands and dragged them out the doors, towards the busiest street in town. Mikiko sighed as shook off her sister's hold on her and eyed her with a slight smirk. "You just wanted to try out the ramen there didn't you?" "Hehe...how'd you know?" she giggled at Mikiko as she rolled her eyes. _

_As they sat down at an emtpy table, Tsuki yelled out her order for 5 large bowls of miso ramen and smiled at her teammates. The waitress and Riku gave her a weird look. _

"_What the hell? How can you eat so much?" he asked in shock. Tsuki laughed at his expression. _

"_Because I can, idiot!" _

"_You'll find out soon enough anyways." Mikiko added as she smacked Tsuki's head to stop her from attracting more attention. She looked around cautiously and saw that some ninja were eating here also, fully armed. Looking back at the waitress, she smiled to calm her nerves. "I'll have 2 large bowls of miso pork ramen please..." and looked towards a gaping Riku, smirking. He snapped out of his stupor. _

"_U-Uhm...I'll just have 1 large bowl of miso ramen..." the waitress looked relieved at Riku as he ordered something a normal human being can eat. She hurried to the kitchen to give their order to the chef, who looked at the order and yelled out in surprise. Tsuki snickered at him and turned her gaze towards Riku, who was now eyeing Mikiko. _

"_Hey, Miko-chan...want to walk through the park alone with me later? I'll want to show you something...," he said in a suggestive tone. Mikiko looked at the boy with a surprised look on her face as he groped her butt. Quickly glaring, she grabbed his arm, pulled Riku up from the chair and spun him around, gripping his hand behind him. She leaned in and whispered in his ear. _

"_You shouldn't be doing that around me...who knows what might happen to you?" The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as she tightened her grip on his hand and let go, smiling. Riku laughed nervously as he took his seat again. _

_End Flashback._

* * *

Riku felt uncomfortable under the glare that Mikiko was giving him. They neared their sensei, who was casually leaning against a tree and eyeing Mikiko. 

"Mikiko, stop glaring at him like that. You're making everyone feel umcomfortable."

"O-Oh...sorry, Katsu-sensei." He shrugged as his students all sat down in front of him, waiting for him to speak.

"Okay, training is done for today! Meet at the Mission center tomorrow at the same time, and bring all your ninja gear." An excited cheer escaped from Riku and Tsuki as they jumped up in joy.

"Finally! A mission!" Tsuki pumped her fist into the air as she grinned. Mikiko offered a small smile.

'_I wonder what kind of mission Katsu-sensei will give us...it better not be a D-class...,'_ before she can continue pondering what their sensei said, he poofed away and Tsuki was dragging her home, towards the Hiroshima estate. Sighing, she waved good-bye to Riku, who was sweat dropping at Tsuki's very happy behavior.

'_Ha...even I have to feel sorry for Miko...it looks like her energy's being sucked up just being around the hyperactive Tsuki-chan...,'_ he thought before he laughed and headed home. He stretched his arms and smiled widely.

"I can't wait for tomorrow!"

* * *

**End chapter **

Okay, I'm really really sorry for the beginning part being boring! XP. But I just wanted to get the outfits and stuff out of the way before I continued the story! And about me not describing Katsu's outfit, gomen! I can't describe guy's clothes well. Just to remind you:

Tsuki – Yin; happy; loud (haha, she sounds like me...RAMEN! X3)

Mikiko – Yang; quiet; calm

Anyways, please review! Comments, praises, flames, whatever:3.

* * *


	2. First Mission?

**Kitsune Legends**

Spring break is gonna end soon, so when Monday comes around I might update...slower than I would have wanted to. So I plan to have 1 or 2 more chapters up before school starts again!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I do own the Ocs in this fanfiction such as Mikiko, Tsuki, and Katsu.

Key:"Talking"

_'Thinking'_

(This key will be updated as the story continues.)

Reiko no Tori: Thanks for giving me my first review ever! xD. And, don't worry, I will!

* * *

**First Mission?**

"_Your aim is off! Again!" shoutedHakumei Genji. He glared at the exhausted 4 year old as she attempted to stand up, but failed miserably and collapsed onto the ground. She trembled as she closed her eyes in pain. "GET UP." He grabbed her arm and pulled her up, straining her shoulder. She yelled out in pain. "I will not tolerate failure, Mikiko. Do it again." he hissed. _

_Squinting her eyes in concentration, she got into the stance to throw the shuriken. In a fluid motion, she let them loose towards the 3 targets on the tree 5 yards in front of her. She counted in her head as they hit. '1...on the mark...2...bulls-eye...3...oh, shit,' Miko cursed under her breath before Genji had growled and slapped her across the face. She flew back a few feet and landed painfully on her side. Genji crossed his arms and scowled at the little figure on the ground._

"_Next time I won't accept anything other than perfection. You will have no dinner. Come to my office later for your punishment." And he left. Mikiko rolled onto her back and stared at the sky. It was dark and cloudy. A few moments later a light shower blanketed the misty village of Kiri, but Mikiko didn't move. Closing her eyes, she sighed, thinking about the punishment she was to endure as the raindrops fell onto her unmoving body. From the room to her left a piercing scream shattered the peaceful day and her mind's eye the sky started to cry out droplets of blood.

* * *

_

"Miko-chan, wake up." She screamed and thrashed in her bed.

"No! Get away! I didn't do anything wrong!" Tsuki looked at her sister, eyes widening. She snatched the blanket off of her body, revealing a trembling girl curled up in a ball. Mikiko's eyes opened slowly as the tears threatened to escape her eyes. The older twin let out a sigh of relief as she woke up.

"Miko...are you okay?" Still trembling, she got up from her fetal position and rubbed the tears out of her eyes.

"It...was that dream again."

"Oh..."

Giving her little sister a comforting smile, she helped her out of the bed and get ready for the new day. "Try not to think about it...besides, we have our first mission today!" Tsuki grinned widely. Miko couldn't help but smile a little too at her sister's excitement.

* * *

They arrived at the Mission center to find Riku already there, leaning against the wall beside the entrance. Noticing the twins, he waved and smiled.

"'Morning you guys...hey, Mikiko-chan, you okay?" His gaze froze on her tired purple eyes as she waved it off.

"I'm okay. I just didn't get enough sleep...," Riku frowned, not really buying the excuse. When she gave him a little smile he shrugged it off and watched the sun rise.

Right as a yellow ray of light shot through the sky, Katsu "poofed" in front of them. Riku and Tsuki coughed in the smoke that he had made as they waved it away. Mikiko grimaced. Sweat dropping, Katsu laughed a little.

"Ah, sorry." Riku scowled and crossed his arms while Tsuki just frowned. "Anyways, you guys ready for your first mission?" At the mention of the word "mission", Riku and Tsuki started smiling and nodding their heads furiously, their eyes twinkling at their sensei as they clasped their hands together. Chuckling, he lead the way inside, towards the Mizukage and his chuunin assistants in another room.

They sat behind a long desk which was covered with red, blue, yellow, and black labled scrolls. When they entered, Hoshigaki Satomaru, the current Mizukage, looked up from the scrolls and smirked at his son's students and their expressions at all the scrolls.

"First mission, eh Katsu? What type are you looking for today?" Katsu approached the desk and looked at one of the yellow scrolls.

"Let me see some of those D-class missions, Satomaru-sama..." Nodding, he gave him one as his students crowded behind him, trying to get a look at the scroll. Katsu's eyes wandered over the different missions as he pondered over which one he should give his students. _'No...this one's too easy. Hmm. Not this one either. Aha! Perfect!'_ he thought as he smiled, giving the scroll back, pointing to one of the missions.

"This one..." Satomaru looked at it and couldn't help but grin.

"If you say so..."

Behind Katsu, Riku and Tsuki were anxious to receive their mission. Mikiko, however, was suspicious of the curious behavior of the two adults. _'What is he planning for us...?' _but before she can think about it anymore, Katsu turned around with a smile. Miko raised a brow but otherwise didn't say anything.

"Alright! Let's all go to the outskirts of the village, by the edge of the forest. Then, I'll tell you what our mission is." The threesome shot some questioning looks, but quickly shook it off and followed their smiling sensei. Jumping from roof to roof, Riku spoke to Mikiko in a hushed voice as Tsuki listened.

"Hey, hey...what kind of mission do you think can make him this happy?" he whispered. Mikiko sighed as she shook her head.

"I dunno...it can't be good though. Since it's a D-class it'll be boring and annoying..." Riku groaned. Tsuki spoke up as they all jumped off of the last building in their path.

"He did say that he liked working kids like us to death." Riku and Tsuki shuddered a little, as their imaginations took over and they thought of cleaning up the forest and other brain nulling missions.

"Stop daydreaming and pay attention." Katsu turned around and faced his students as they stood in front of the forest's edge. "For today's mission we'll be looking for a lost pet. Its owner is the daughter of an important business owner in Kiri. The pet is a little green and yellow parakeet what flew into the forest. It has a red ribbon around it's neck. We have until sundown to find it." Riku gaped.

"So, you're asking us to find a little green bird in a big misty forest in less than 12 hours?" Katsu nodded.

"Yeah, that's about right." The three groaned a little as they were handed little headphones to communicate with each other. "Oh, and by the way," his students looked up, "you won't be getting any help from me."

"WHAT?"

After 5 hours of searching with no luck, all of them sat together in a clearing deep inside the forest surrounding the Mist village for lunch. Mikiko unpacked 3 box lunches from the back pack she was carrying around and handed one to Riku and Tsuki. The boy muttered a thanks as he opened up his lunch and let out an awe struck

"Holy shit!".

Inside was some rice with a few California rolls and other various sushi along with some chicken. Tilting his head at the combination of food, he looked up at the twins as Tsuki took out a thermos and poured out some tea for them all.

"Who made this? Tsuki, did you make this?" She laughed hard as she nearly dropped the tea. Clutching her stomach with the other hand, she calmed down enough to answer him.

"Me? Are you crazy? I would've burned that sushi!" He sweat dropped.

"But it's sushi."

"Exactly!"

"I made it," Mikiko said sighing, "because Tsuki can't cook. Period." Riku laughed a little, earning him a scowl from Tsuki.

As they continued eating in a peaceful silence, a piercing chirp erupted from a branch in the tree they were eating under. Mikiko looked up at the bird and gasped. The others stopped eating and followed her gaze. They gaped and pointed.

"IT'S YOU!" In the tree was a little green and yellow feathered parakeet with a red ribbon around its neck.

Riku jumped up, successfully spilling hot tea over the twins, who cringed from the sudden heat. Mikiko glared, but got up as well, helping Tsuki get up. They shared a look and jumped up onto the tree, towards the bird. It chirped and fluttered its wings, as if mocking them. Riku's eye started to twitch as he clenched his teeth together in annoyance.

"Little bas-"

"Riku, don't scare the thing," whispered Miko as she climbed up the tree, holding out some rice. "Here little birdy..." Suddenly shrieking, it flew off towards the edge of a small stream. Riku had a smug expression on his face.

"Now look who's scaring it?" Scowling, she jumped off the tree. The others did the same. "So now what?" he asked. Mikiko bit her lip as she thought of a plan. She smacked her forehead when she realized something.

"Why didn't I see this before? Tsuki, we can use our bloodline limit."

She smacked her forehead as well. "ACK! I forgot!"

"Bloodline limit...?" he threw a questioning look at the twins.

"It's a special ability passed down from parent to child that cannot be copied, even by the Sharingan users from Konoha." she explainedperfectly mimicking their boring Academy teacher, who always used that droning boring voice. He snickered a little, but nodded his head.

"So what do the Hiroshima's limit do anyways?"

"With a few simple hand seals,"Mikiko demonstrated by forming them, "we can manipulate any liquid to our will. Also, it cuts the use of chakra on suiton jutsus in half, even when our bloodline limit isn't activated." Tsuki nodded as Riku imagined Mikiko suffocating him in a water bubble around his head. He shuddered, but nodded. Mikiko beckoned them into a circle and she whispered the plan to them.

* * *

"Silent One to Red Eyes, are you in position?" Mikiko crouched in a tree across the stream.

"I'm in position. Over." Riku was pressing his back against the tree near the bird. He kept out of it's range of sight.

"Ramen Lover to Silent One. I'm in position. Proceed with the plan, over." She crouched down wind of the bird, about 5 yards away, as to not scare it.

"Right. Get ready to go in 3..."

"2..." counted Riku under his breath.

"1...GO!" squealed Tsuki as she and Mikiko quickly started forming a few hand seals.

"Rikkido Soujuu!"

A rope made out of water shot out of the stream and wrapped itself around the bird's wings. Tsuki smiled. "Phase 1 complete!"

Mikiko was holding her hands in the hand seal used to concentrate chakra as she focused on her role in the plan. A big ball of water rose out of the stream as it stretched into a little birdcage. She smirked and started to form other hand seals as the bird cage levitated in the air.

"Senkou hyouketsu no jutsu!" Taking a deep breath, she mixed chakra with the air in her lungs and exhaled a cloud of mist, which enveloped the water cage and froze it. Catching the cage, she headed towards Tsuki, who was concentrating on keeping the rope tight around the struggling bird.

"Phase 2 complete."

Riku grabbed the bird, letting Tsuki release the water's hold on it. As Mikiko got close he put it in the cage and closed the little door. "HA! Mission complete! Take that you little demon bird!" He grinned and stuck his tongue out at the bird while the twins sweat dropped. It chirped angrily and Tsuki laughed nervously.

"I bet if it can talk it'd be cursing. Haha..."

* * *

2:30 p.m.

Back at the Mission center in about an hour (they were pretty deep inside the forest), Mikiko gave the bird to the happy little girl as she thanked her. It seemed that if Miko held the cage it kept quiet, but not if the others held it. Tsuki had complained about this, but Riku commented and said: "It must be because she's so quiet." Eventually after much arguing this was the final conlusion from both of them as Miko scowled at them and before she can smack Riku and Tsuki upside their heads, Katsu interrupted.

"Congratz congratz on completing your very first mission!" Miko's scowl deepened as the others groaned at his go-happy attitude and his wide smile, "And might I add that you'll be doing a lot more missions like these in the future..." the groans became louder. "Tomorrow is your test, so remember to bring all your ninja gear to training area 34 at the crack of dawn. And..." the three listened more intently, " you shouldn't eat breakfast."

Tsuki scoffed. "And why not?"

Katsu laughed a little maniacally. Mikiko raised a brow and Riku laughed nervously. Suddenly he stopped and eyed them with a glint in his eye. "Because you'll barf." Before Team 11 could respond, he poofed away in a cloud of smoke, leaving 3 coughing genin in front of the Mission center alone. They looked at eachother, murmured their goodbyes, and went their seperate ways, thinking the same thing.

_'I wonder what kind of test he's gonna give us?'

* * *

_

**End Chapter**

Okies, now for some questions and answer!

Rikkido soujuu? It literally means "liquid manipulation" in japanese. Haha, not much thought there.

Senkou hyouketsu no jutsu? It means "Flash Freeze jutsu".


	3. Phase 1: Dungeon of Despair

**Kitsune Legends**

_Okay...tomorrow, I have to go back to school -hisses at education-._

Strike that. In preparation for the state testing next week (I live in California), our teachers gave us a buttload of homework. I'm sorry that this update came later than we all wanted it to. T.T.

Reiko no Tori: Of course they'll be in the story -smiles-. Who else would they meet when they go to Konoha? And don't worry. That'll be in a few chapters later. Maybe 3 or 4 chapters later.

Key: "Talking"

'_Thinking'_

(This key will be updated as the story continues.)

**-points downwards- EDITED! (only the test explanation of course)**

* * *

**Phase 1: Dungeon of Despair**

_It was still raining hard when Mikiko trudged her way towards Genji's office for her punishment. Thunder clashed high above her, lighting up the dull face. Grimacing, she turned the corner of the open hallway and entered through the sliding door. Inside, the only light was from a candle on Genji's desk, reflecting the dark and hungry look on his face. She closed the door quietly and bowed to the higher ranking Hakumei. _

"_Good evening, Genji-sama...," she greeted quietly, straightening out her form and walking forward towards the desk. Grinning, Genji nodded, standing up from his chair to begin the child's punishment._

_20 minutes later..._

_Mikiko screamed in pain as the whip lashed out against her bare skin. Her mind began to turn numb along with some parts of her body as the whip cracked again, hard enough to give her a scar for life. _

_'Why...why am I here?' she thought bitterly as she got whipped again. The pain jogging her memory, she smirked unexpectedly. _

_'Oh yeah. Shuriken.' The whips stopped crashing down on her little body as the blood loss started to make her woozy. _

_'But I'm used to it anyways...' The last thing she saw before she passed out was a grinning Genji, rolling up his whip. _

* * *

Miko eyes slowly opened as the birds started to chirp outside. Her body was covered in a cold sweat from her dream. Sitting up on her bed, she rubbed out the sand in her eyes, grimacing. She glanced at her clock. '_4:45 am...'_ Yawning, she slid out of bed and walked towards her shower, located in her room. As she stripped off her clothes and got inside, she turned the temperature of the water as cold as she can get it and turned on the water. The sudden coldness woke her up fully as she thought about her dream. Punching the tiled wall of the shower, she cursed. 

"Dammit..."

After freshening up, she walked back to her bed and crouched beside it, groping for something under her bed. A faint metal clink rang as she pulled out a katana with a thin chain-like tassel extending from the bottom of the hilt. At the end of the silver chain was a tiny crescent-shaped blade, as sharp as a knife. The sheath, hilt, and handle were colored a deep jet black. Mikiko got up and strapped it onto her back using a strip of dark brown leather especially designed for her.

It wrapped diagonally across her upper body, from her right shoulder to her stomach, making the handle sticking up diagonally over her shoulder from behind (you see, Mikiko and Tsuki were a little shorter than they were supposed to be). Walking confidently out of her room, she joined Tsuki outside theHakumei manor.

Tsuki also had a weapon she didn't show their team yet. Tucked in her white obi, she had 2 fans by each hip. Each had the Hakumeiclan sign on it; a silver crescent moon with 3 blood red jagged claw marks slashing through it. Tsuki grinned happily at Mikiko before leading them both towards training area 34.

Riku sat cross legged by the metal fence bordering the training area, growling as he slammed his fist on the ground.

"Where the hell is everybody?" His voice echoed throughout the empty field in front of him as he groaned and threw his head back. He blinked as his head went into the shadow of one Hakumei Tsuki as she smiled down at him sweetly.

"Aww...Riku-kun, bored out of your mind already?" Riku craned his head backwards to look at the young girl towering over his sitting form as the wind blew over them, causing everyone's clothes to sway.

"Not with this view."

Blushing, Tsuki jumped back a few feet and used her hands to keep down the bottom of her kimono as Riku laughed. Mikiko cleared her throat to make them acknowledge her presence, and suddenly Riku shut his mouth, remembering her blood limit.

* * *

_-Flashback-_

_"With a few simple hand seals," she demonstrated by forming them, "we can manipulate any liquid to our will. Also, it cuts the use of chakra on suiton jutsus in half, even when our bloodline limit isn't activated," explained Mikiko. Tsuki nodded as Riku imagined Mikiko suffocating him in a water bubble around his head. He shuddered..._

_-End Flashback-_

* * *

He laughed nervously for a while before getting up from his seat on the grass and dusting himself off. "Anyways...where's that damn sens-" 

A cloud of ninja smoke exploded in front of him as he jumped jumped away from it, shielding his mouth and nose. Out came Hoshigaki Katsu, eating a chicken terriyaki stick. Tsuki and Riku approached him, drooling a little as they stared at the stick. Mikiko kept her face expressionless and crossed her arms.

"Yo," he said grinning at them, "Ready for your test?" Tsuki gulped and wiped the drool off of her mouth. She stood of straight and looked at her sensei dead-on.

"Let's get it over with."

Miko nodded as Riku recovered from his hunger attack. Nodding, Katsu walked towards the heavily locked gates, his students following. He unlocked the door and the locks fell with heavy thuds. The gate creaked open, letting them get a better view of the area. Before they could walk in, he held out this arm to stop them.

"No. Before you go in, I'll explain the test," he said happily; the 3 stopped and listened intently to his next words.

"During this test, you will all have to start at different entrances to the training area and go into the trap door that one of my water clones will be guiding you towards. Underneath is a dungeon that you will have make your way through it, using only the things you brought here today," he ignored the collective gasps from the genin as he continued, "you will be encountering everything a Mist genin like you should be able to deal with, or at least live through," he laughed maniacally for a bit before going on, "However, there's a twist. In order to pass this test, you must retrieve a silver kunai hidden inside the dungeon. Then, make your way towards the exit...if you can find it. By the way, the dungeon is about 8 miles wide in radius," his students' faces hardened in determination.

He smiled inwardly. _'I might actually come to like these kids...'_ Katsu held up a clock with a timer in his hand and pointed at the 1. "You have until 11 am to get the kunai and get out of the dungeon. About 30 minutes after the timer goes off, the many emergency exits will be opened for you to get out from."

Silence.

"So. We have about 5 hours, right? What do we do about food?" asked Tsuki.

"Oh don't worry about that. You'll find that some things will be in the dungeon that you won't normally find underground...A ninja must see through deception and look beneath the surface...Underneath the underneath," and with that, he formed a hand seal.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" In a puff of smoke, 2 more Katsu's appeared, all smiling. One took the hand of Tsuki and formed more hand seals, making them disappear in a tiny tornado of mist. The other clutched Mikiko's shoulder and did the same. Five minutes later, the true Katsu nodded towards Riku and led him inside.

As the young boy passed the metal gates a chill ran down his back. He looked around at the eerily silent forest. _'What the hell is this feeling? It's like something is watching me...'_ They arrived at a wooden trap door in the ground, with a metal ring attached to it. Katsu grabbed it and pulled up, revealing a stone staircase. The heavy scent of blood escaped the opening, washing over Riku. His face remained the same.

_'It's not like I smelled this much blood before...Tch...'_ He took a deep breath and calmed his rapidly beating heart. Katsu checked a pocket watch he was carrying in his pocket. Riku's heart beats started to fall in synch with it as he waited for the sign to go. Tick. Tick. Tick. He clenched his fist, urging this throbbing to slow down.

"Begin!"

* * *

**End Chapter**

Hehe, cliff hanger. I will try to update as soon as I can (and I'm sorry about the short chapter; I usually get about 2000 words in...the test prep must be getting to my head...jeeze...). It might take 1-3 days to update, I'm sorry. But here's the bright side. After all this testing, there will be no HW, meaning 6-8 hours of free time for meeee! FYI, I spend most of my free time reading/writing fanfictions. I hope you stay to read the next chapter. 'Till then, see ya!


	4. Into the Darkness

**Kitsune Legends**

Angel of Forgotten Souls: Thanks, I really appreciate your review!

Reiko no Tori: Hehe, here ya go Tori! Hope you like it!

Key: "Talking"

_'Thinking'_

(This key will be updated as the story continues.)

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do however, own the Ocs (Riku, Mikiko, Tsuki, Katsu).

**EDITED!**

* * *

_Previously..._

_He took a deep breath and calmed his rapidly beating heart. Katsu checked a pocket watch he was carrying in his pocket. Riku's heart beats started to fall in synch with it as he waited for the sign to go. Tick. Tick. Tick. He clenched his fist, urging this throbbing to slow down._

"_Begin!" _

* * *

**Into the Darkness**

Adrenaline rushed through his body as he quickly drew out two kunai, holding them like daggers. Riku jumped into the darkness and started pelting down the stairs, his footsteps echoing in the empty stairway. As he went deeper in, it became darker and darker to the point that he can barely see his hands in front of him. He strained his ears to hear beyond his footsteps and his pounding heart. He continued running as he began to wonder how deep underground he was.

A faint yellow light appeared in the distance, and Riku started running towards it, eager to get out of the darkness. Finally catching up to the bright light, it engulfed him, temporarily blinding him as he ran. Suddenly, the floor disappeared from his feet and he started free falling into the darkness.

"Aaaaahhh!"

* * *

The yell of surprise echoed throughout the whole dungeon, alerting Tsuki to the danger. She perked her ears towards the source.

"Riku...kun?"

Hastily, she took out her fans from her obi and opened them with a quick snap. Tsuki held them in a defensive position as she started walking through the dimly lit tunnel, studying her surroundings. _'Long tunnel lit with an unknown light source...approx. 12 feet high, 7 feet wide...' _she calculated.

She walked by some crackling torches on the wall, looking for any signs of danger.

The crackling kept getting louder as she walked further away from the torches. Starting to feel nervous, she started jogging.

Tsuki felt the heat of the fire against her back as she started to run through the tunnel, panting.

The crack of the fire finally became a roar as the young Hakumei tucked her fans back into the obi of her kimono, risking a glance over her shoulder.

Her eyes met with raging pools of red.

Those eyes belonged to a living inferno as big as the tunnel itself, shaped into a snake like form. It opened it's mouth and roared, shaking the walls with it's monstrous voice. She gasped, and sprinted, the flame snake breathed out a stream of fire, singing the edges of her kimono.

"Tssssssuki..." hissed the flaming reptile, "I only want to play..." The snake breathed in deeply, signaling that it was going to shoot fire again. Up ahead, the tunnel opened up to a vast cave, with many stalagmites and stalactites jutting out from the earth.

Tsuki ran through the entrance and jumped towards the right as several fireballs were shot, exploding as they hit the walls opposite them. Tsuki skidded to a halt, facing the entrance as she panted from the run. The cave shook and rumbled as the predator neared her. The pyre snake seemed to flow out into the cave in a long stream of fire, as Tsuki spotted a small underground lake on the other side.

She smirked. "Bingo."

* * *

Meanwhile, the younger Hiroshima twin had reached a fork in the tunnel lit with strange glowing blue mushrooms as it split into three separate pathways. Each one was lit with different colored mushrooms. The path on the left was lit with green mushrooms; the right with white; and the middle with orange.

Stopping in front of them all, she closed her eyes and stood still. A faint breeze blew over her from the tunnel on the right.

"That one."

Miko walked over and drew her sword out of the sheath, which was still securely strapped to her back. It's blade was blood red with some strange kanji on the side. She gripped it with both hands and gathered some chakra on the edge of the blade and sliced the number one onto the side of the tunnel. Returning the blade to it's sheath, she started walking down the white path.

* * *

As Riku fell, he took out some wire, tied it onto a kunai, and threw it towards the side of the seemingly endless pit. As it took hold of the earth, he swung and landed with his feet on the vertical wall. Sighing as he gripped the wire tightly, he cursed under his breath.

"Holy shit...if this is only the beginning, I wonder what's at the end of this dungeon?" Grimacing, he gathered chakra into the soles of his feet and walked up the sides of the wall, picking up the kunai as he passed it.

"Thank god otou-san taught me how to walk up trees...I'll have to thank him after I get through this god damn test..." He looked at the opening about 75 yards away where he fell, seeing the stairs behind it.

A sudden breeze of howling wind threw him into the air from underneath and slammed him into the roof of the cave. He grabbed onto a stalactite (A/N: a stalagmite, except its sticking out of the roof, if ya didn't know...) and glanced down at the source of his pain.

Underneath him, a near invisible eagle as big as a van was hovering. Riku blinked in confusion as he saw almost completely through it's pale sky blue colored body. It screeched at him before speeding towards him like a bullet.

Gasping, he used his feet to jump off the side of the spear like rock and threw out his wire-attached kunai again, swinging through the air and drawing 2 more kunai in his other hand. The eagle collided with the stalactite, successfully shredding it to dust as it made contact with it's feathers. Grimacing as he stood on the side of another stalactite, he cursed again.

"Dammit. It's like a living hurricane of blades..."

* * *

Mikiko growled out in frustration as she walked back up to the entrance to the white tunnel again. She stared at the slash she made on the side. '_I...walked in circles?'_ She retraced her steps, going through another tunnel. About an hour later, she found herself back at the same cave. Miko growled in frustration, realizing her stupidity. She formed the hand seal to focus chakra and muttered

"Kai." The genjutsu creating the three tunnels disappeared, leaving Mikiko at a dead end.

Scowling, she walked around the small cave, feeling the walls, until her hands ran over an imprint on the wall. She blinked. _'What's this?'_ She wiped her hands over the imprint again, and discovered the kanji for "blood".

"Ha...Katsu-sensei really _is_ as crazy as we think he is...a ninja must see through deception and look beneath the surface...tch!" she said as she took out a kunai knife and cut her finger deep enough to draw blood. She wiped her finger on the stone imprint, and the rock around it started to crumble into rubble. Mikiko blinked at the dark hole.

A pair of hands shot out of it and pulled her into the void.

* * *

Tsuki made a dash for the lake while forming a short set of hand seals.

"Rikkido soujuu!"

Holding out her hand, palm up, she called some water towards her. It gathered around her just in time to absorb another fireball from the snake. It hissed in anger as it rushed towards her. As it came closer, Tsuki side-stepped it just in time and sent a jet of high-pressured water towards the back of it's head. _'Bulls-eye...' _The fire seemed to dim a little before recovering.

The snake laughed. "Ssssssilly girl...that little attack won't hurt me..."

Tsuki frowned, jumping back a few feet and taking out her fans again. Gathering chakra in them, she sent a blast of wind towards the snake with a wide arc of her arm, most of her remaining controlled water following it. The water mixed with the now spinning wind, creating a water tornado. It roared in pain and lashed out at her with it's tail as the tornado spun around its head. It hit her right in her stomach as she flew back and slammed into the wall.

Her right sleeve had burned right off, exposing burnt skin. The living inferno glared at her, killing intent now spreading throughout the large cave. _'That snake isn't real...it's a summoning...which is why it won't die because chakra is being continually pumped to it...dammit.'

* * *

_

Another stalactite turned to rubble as the wind bird chased down Riku, who was swinging on his wires. He armed himself with shuriken and flicked his hands, sending them flying into the bird's head. They embedded themselves into it's forehead, but the eagle was still going strong.

"Shit."

It started spinning while charging until it became a spinning tornado missile, whizzing towards him. He let go of the wire and used his momentum to somersault towards the wall, the missile just skimming his arm. As he flipped, he threw a kunai with an exploding tag attached to it at its tail. When it made contact, the resulting explosion shook the cave. It sent the bird crashing into a jagged piece of rock. Riku grinned as he used chakra to stand on the wall, clutching his now bleeding arm.

"I'm not having that much luck with birds...am I?" he chuckled to himself. Even when in battle, he still found the time to joke. The bird shrieked as it pushed itself out of the wall, it's eyes now visible.

They radiated a faint yellow light. . .

just like the light that lured him there.

* * *

Mikiko drew her blade once again after she was thrust into complete darkness. She sniffed the air and picked out two identical scents.

'_Kage Bunshin...' _she thought. Suddenly, two mirrors lit up near her, and in front of them stood the two identical masked ninja with black spiky hair. Both had their had their hands in a different hand seal as they stared at the reflections. She looked into the mirrors and saw Tsuki and Riku fighting elemental monsters. Miko gasped.

_'It's like looking through a window...'_

In Tsuki's mirror, the snake had just cornered her, hissing something illiterate. Mikiko growled and charged one of the Kage Bunshin.

The true masked ninja stepped in front of her and blocked her way, forcing her to skid to a stop.

"Stop. Before you can get to them you have to go through me." Mikiko snarled.

"Those Kage Bunshin are controlling those monsters aren't they?" The ninja cackled.

"Of course." No more words were needed.

She touched her crimson blade, yelling out: "Awaken, Chisio aiyoku!"

The blade pulsed as it glowed a crimson color. It then disappeared, along with the hilt, and a torrent of blood shot out of the handle; at least 1 ton. The silver crescent and chain enlarged, revealing that it was really a chain and sickle if she held the hilt upside down. Forming the needed hand seals, she activated her blood limit.

"Rikkido soujuu!"

The blood immediately swarmed around her as she spun the crescent high above her head. The red liquid followed the movements of the crescent moon, forming a great spiral above her.

Mikiko jumped high into the air and swung Aiyoku towards the ninja's head. It didn't even reach him; only half way. He laughed at this, but was cut short when he jumped up to dodge the sonic boom that followed, successfully blowing him away. He gracefully flipped and landed on his feet, looking at where he was just standing. There was a big tear in the earth.

Mikiko continued swinging Aiyoku at the ninja, the blood now hardening into senbons that were being thrown at him, along with the sonic booms and gashes.

He ran towards Mikiko. _'Well if I can't fight from a distance, I might as well get close...'_ he thought as he disappeared in a cloud of smoke and appeared several feet behind the girl. She snarled, sending several blood spears towards him to buy her some time as she caught the crescent moon by it's handle. He jumped over them, drawing a kunai knife.

The two weapons clashed, and their wielders' arms both shook as they tried to push one another back. The masked ninja chuckled.

"You fight well, Mikiko-chan...but now I have a proposition for you..." She growled.

"And why would I listen to a person like you?"

"Because have what you need to pass this test..." She gasped, almost letting go of her blade. The man slashed downwards with his kunai as Miko jumped backwards, the knife tearing her stomach. She cried out in pain.

"Y-You have the silver kunai?" she choked out. He laughed and took it out. Narrowing her purple eyes, she glared.

"What do you want from me?" He stroked his chin with his free hand.

"Hmm...well, you have a choice. You either get the silver kunai from me and I get to play around with your teammates some more...or you save your teammates and I get to keep this little knife...it's your choice...Miko-_chan_..."

She scowled as her heart raced. She looked from the mirrors to the unknown ninja, and back again.

"Hurry up and choose...before I get impatient or you die from blood loss..." Mikiko stayed silent as she glared daggers at him. He snapped his fingers, causing both clones to make their monsters attack again. Tsuki screamed as she got trapped in a tornado of fire. Riku yelled out in pain as the tornado missile hit him right in his side.

Adrenaline rushing through her veins, she spat out her answer.

"I would never leave those dear to me to die at your hands, no matter what!"

She spanher blade and swung at the Kage Bunshin, satisfied when they burst into smoke. The mirrors started to crack without the chakra that the clones gave them.

* * *

Tsuki gasped as the tornado dissipated, leaving her alone in the cave, now covered with several large scorch marks and an empty hole where the lake used to be. She gasped and fell to her knees, trembling.

In another cave, Riku was flung towards the opening opposite where he came in. He didn't bother to get up after he skidded to a halt at the foot of yet another staircase. "What the hell happened...?"

* * *

Smiling, Mikiko fell onto her back with a thud, turning her head towards the ninja man. Her vision started to waver as the comfort of unconsciousness started to take over. He unmasked himself, revealing a very familiar grin.

"K-Katsu-sensei...?"

* * *

**End Chapter**

U-Uhm...I'm kinda nervous on how my first chapter with major fight scenes and action turned out. Any suggestions or comments are really appreciated, so that I can improve! Too detailed, too confusing? Anyways, now for expected questions and answers.

What were those monsters (fire snake, wind bird)? Please explain. They were special summons performed by Katsu's clones. Those mirrors were a seperate jutsu, so that they can control the monsters over long distances.

Will Tsuki be using the same attacks as Temari? No, she will not be using the exact same attacks. Every fan wielder should be able to create a burst of wind, right?

Chisio aiyoku? The name translates into "Blood Lust." It will all be explained in the next chapter, don't worry!

When will the "kitsune" part of the story come in? In the next two to three chapters, the real story will begin. All these chapters are just to get you familiar with some of the main characters, and to answer some un-needed questions about the OCs. -smiles-

Anyways, I gotta go to sleep now. See you guys later!


	5. Phase Two: Hidden Truths

**Kitsune Legends**

Okay I just realized that we have no homework during testing. -sweat drops- Oops. Well anyways I'm sorry for the delay. -looks at reviews- None? I could have sworn I'd get at least a small comment unless I blew you guys away with too much action...o.0. Oh well, ..

Key: "Regular Talking"

_'Thinking'_

'**_Demons thinking to their vessels'_**

**EDITED!

* * *

**

**Phase Two: Hidden Truths**

"...Chisio Aiyoku..." A small female voice whispered.

Mikiko's eyes fluttered open to see a white ceiling. She sniffed the air and grimaced slightly. It smelled like medicine. She turned her head towards the direction of the voices to see a blue screen separating them.

"'Blood Lust'...hmm. What does it do?" Another familiar voice. _'Riku...?'_

"It absorbs the blood of it's enemies and uses it against them."

Katsu snatched the screen and pulled it open, temporarily blinding his youngest student as the sunlight hit her. Mikiko tried to move her hand to block it but realized that she couldn't feel her arm.

"I...can't move..." Next to her bed, a certain sensei laughed as she pointed out the obvious.

"Well that's what happens when get distracted while fighting...don't let your opponent mess with your head, Miko_-chan..._" She gasped, suddenly remembering that tone of voice.

* * *

Flashback

"Y-You have the silver kunai?" she choked out. He laughed and took them out. Narrowing her purple eyes, she glared. "What do you want from me?" He stroked his chin with his free hand. "Hmm...well, you have a choice. You either get the silver kunai from me and I get to play around with your teammates some more...or you save your teammates and I get to keep this little knife...it's your choice...Miko-chan..."

End flashback

* * *

Miko sat up quickly, instantly regretting it. Pain shot through her upper body. She groaned and rested her head against the bed's headboard, closing her eyes. Across her on another bed, Riku snickered.

"So, the great Mikiko actually got distracted in battle? May I ask who I should worship for this amazing feat?"A very smug grin was plastered on his face.

Mikiko opened her deep purple eyes to glare daggers at her teammate, who just shrugged. Her gaze moved towards the jounin sensei next to her. "I don't know, you should ask Katsu-sensei whther or not he wants a stalker..." Riku blinked and stared at their sensei.

On the bed next to him, Tsuki began to wake up to listen to the conversation. With great effort, she turned her head towards her sensei, sleepy eyes barely focusing on his grinning face.

"Ha. So you were conscious to see my face huh?" She nodded. "Yes, it was me who attacked you all." Riku growled while Tsuki frowned slightly.

"You're lucky Katsu-sensei...if my body wasn't completely numb, I would slap you," muttered Tsuki. Riku nodded in agreement.

"Why did you attack us like that, sensei?" asked Riku.

Katsu's grin became wider. "To teach you all something. Now...what was the purpose of this test?"

"To survive a tornado from drilling through your stomach?" suggested Riku. Tsuki sweat dropped.

"No. Think harder to how you fought your different opponents." All three of his students stayed silent. Tsuki spoke up first, not liking the silence.

"Well...I had to dodge a lot of fireballs and use some jutsus..." Katsu nodded for her to go on. "So I guess you were testing me on evasion and ninjutsu use?"

He smiled. "Bingo!" Riku began to catch onto his methods.

"So...my test was on chakra control and tactics, right?"

"Correct. You had to be able to successfully evade attacks in middair and control your chakra enough to cling to walls." He turned towards Mikiko, who had kept her silence. "Mikiko-chan...your test was the most important. There was a reason I made you take that particular tunnel towards me. Please tell your teammates what you did." She sighed.

"My tunnel led to a maze, but it was really just a genjutsu. That tested my understanding of genjutsu. When I shattered it, I was at a dead end and had to investigate and found a kanji. That tested my ability to 'See through deception'. I used my blood to open it's seal and found Katsu-sensei," she nodded her head in his direction, "He was controlling the monsters attacking you using shadow clones through some sort of mirror...and he and his clones were wearing masks, so I didn't know it was him until the very last moment."

Tsuki's eye twitched as he remembered the snake's taunts. She had one thought in her head now: Revenge. Mikiko continued, not noticing the small amount of killer intent aimed towards their sensei.

"I saw the clones attacking you two and tried to destroy them, but the real Katsu-sensei stopped me and we fought. In the middle of the fight, he showed me that he had the 2 silver kunai that we were supposed to retrieve. He gave me a choice between saving you two or passing the test." Riku rolled his eyes. _'She probably chose the kunai over us, seeing as how she wants to get "revenge" on people and get more power...'_

"I chose to save you two." He gaped.

"R-Really?" Raising a brow, Miko nodded. His eyes started to water as he sniffled. "You do care!" Mikiko started to laugh nervously as Riku's eyes began to sparkle.

"Ahhm...of course, you're my teammate." At this, Riku dropped his head in shame. _'She only likes me as a teammate...'_

Katsu cut through the uncomfortable silence. "So, what do you think was the purpose of your test, Mikiko?"

She held her head up confidently.

"Self-sacrifice. You wanted me to be able to give up what I have or what I can get for the sake of my teammates."

Katsu grinned. _'Smart group of kids I have...I gotta rub it in Reiko's face later...'_ "But why did I make _you_ take that particular tunnel to fight me?" She stayed silent, frowning. The others stayed quiet as well. Katsu explained it to them.

"You said when we first met that your dream was to kill some people. That means that you don't have enough power to kill them now, and you want to become stronger." Miko glared, urging him to get to the point. "You can't get stronger if you can't even become a Genin. Which means that with that hard decision I gave you, I wanted to see if you were willing to give up your dream to save lives. To save the lives of your teammates; your friends; your family." He paused for a dramatic effect.

"If you are willing to give up your loved ones for power, then you don't deserve it."

Riku and Tsuki's eyes widened as they gained a new respect for their sensei. Mikiko sighed and looked down at her sheets. _'But I was close to choosing the kunai over them...'_ Katsu seemed to know what she was thinking, for he said, "And because you chose your teammates, you pass this part of the test; all of you."

Immediately, Tsuki jumped right out of her hospital bed and hopped around shouting "YES YES YES!" Riku laughed at her antics and out of happiness. Mikiko let out a breath of relief, then realized a few things. She stared at Tsuki, raising a brow.

"Hey...Tsuki."

"YES YES YES!"

"TSUKI!"

"YES YES YES! We passed!"

"TSU KI -NEE -SA MA!" Miko yelled, punctuating each syllable.

Tsuki stopped hopping around to stare at her sister. "What?"

"You're not supposed to be able to move like that yet you know...you should rest your body, nee-sama." Tsuki laughed nervously before sitting back down on her bed.

Riku however had stopped laughing after Miko mentioned her sudden energy. _'How can she do that? She was suffering from chakra exhaustion. It's only been one damn day and I can't even lift a finger yet!'_ He cursed inwardly. _'Something isn't right...'_ Mikiko noticed his suspicious looks and frowned.

"Katsu-sensei. You said that we only passed a part of the test. That means that we have more to do." He nodded, then looked at Riku. "This is a test of trust and bravery. It will require all of you to be open-minded and think for yourself." All of them became quiet and attentive, hanging on his every word. The black spiky haired Jounin turned towards his only male student.

"Riku, what do you know of the tailed demons and of Konoha's Kyuubi?" Mikiko and Tsuki shared a knowing look.

_**'Is it time yet?'** _A voice echoed through Mikiko's head. A growling animal-like voice in her mind. _'Yes.'_Riku thought back for a little before answering in an unsure voice.

"Well...the Kyuubi was one of the tailed demons. There were nine of them, I think. Each of them with a different number of tails out of nine. Kyuubi was the nine-tailed fox, and was rumored to be the strongest." Inside Mikiko's mind, the voice growled at this so-called rumor.

"One day around 30 years ago, the Kyuubi attacked the village of Konoha, killing many. Their fourth Hokage, Kazama Arashi I think, managed to kill it by sacrificing his life." Tsuki scoffed and was about to say something, but was silenced by a look from her sister.

"Right," said Katsu casually, "Riku, did you know that tailed demons, or bijuu, can also be sealed into people?" He shook his head, eyes wide.

"These 'demon vessels' are called jinchuuriki. And...currently, there are two of them residing in this town. Would you care to guess who?" Riku gasped, but otherwise didn't even try to guess.

"Us." He flicked his gaze over to Tsuki, mouth hanging open.

"Err...can you repeat that?" She frowned.

"The jinchuuriki. They're me and Mikiko."

Riku's head began to spin as he thought about the rumors of the demons and his teammates. He clutched his head in his hands in frustration. _'But...the tailed demons are said to be evil. So does that mean Tsuki-chan and Mikiko-chan are evil? No. They don't act like that, unless they were faking it. Kaa-san always thought that the demons and everything that had to do with them were evil. She's a good person, but should I listen to her?'_

"Riku, think for yourself and don't listen to those rumors and what other people tell you." sighed out Miko, who had until then kept her silence and stared out the window. Now, she was looking at him with those sad amethyst eyes. Her gaze sent apang of guilt through heart.

_'She's...she's right. I have to break free from the control others have from me...' _Finally, he tore his gaze away from hers as he stared at his bed sheets. Tsuki spoke in a sad voice as she saw that Miko had nothing else to say to him.

"Now that you know this...what do you think of us?"

Riku bit his lip, thinking over this new information in his head, which was furiously working overtime to figure out an answer to that question. "I..." he began. All eyes were on him as he continued.

"I think that it doesn't matter that you are both jinchuu-whatever. You are still Tsuki-chan, and you are still Mikiko-chan," he looked at each girl as he said their names. Both started smiling. "You are still my teammates."

Katsu grinned proudly at Riku. "Good job Riku. And with that, you have all passed my test and are now officially Genin. I'm proud of you all," he said finally. Tsuki's smile became bigger, and Riku let out his breathe as the tension in the room lifted. Then, something tugged at him in the back of his mind.

"Say...which demons are inside of you both anyways?" Mikiko smirked.

"Classified information Riku-kun, sorry. You'll find out later anyways."

Disgruntled, he sunk back into his bed as the twins got up, stretching. They seemed to be healthy enough to walk again, despite their injuries. Katsu got up as well, saying something about getting well soon and then left. The twins began to do the same.

"See ya later Riku-kun," said Tsuki, all her energy seemed to come back to her. Miko just nodded a good-bye before leading them both out of the room. After the door closed, Riku buried his head into his pillow. A thought struck him.

"Wait...Mikiko called me Riku-kun..."

* * *

**End chapter**

Ahh...it feels nice to type fanfictions again. Anyways, I'm really sorry if this came out later than expected, but I...just...couldn't really think of a way to begin the chapter. After that, my fingers just flew across the keyboard, xD. If anybody has any questions, comments, or whatever, please review! Even if you don't...review review review! Lol.


	6. Kitsune?

**Kitsune Legends**

Okay you guys, like I promised you, this is the chapter when the real story begins. I hope you like! From now on, instead of the usual line thingy I use to separate different scenes and stuff, I will be using something else easier on the eyes. It seems that my eyes get a little sore when all the words are bunched together like they used to be. o.o. I will be using:

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

This is only temporary until I can think of a better line, xD. Any of you are free to suggest ideas, even though it's not really a major thing. I'm kind of a perfectionist, so don't mind me, lol. I'll still be using the line things to separate the actual story form my Author's notes though.

Reiko no Tori: The Naruto gang's ages will be told when my characters arrive at Konoha.

Key: "Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**_'Demons talking to their vessels in their minds'_**

**"Demon talking/Demon language"**

**EDITED!**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I do own the OCs. (Well of course, O.riginal C.haracters, duh.)

* * *

**Kitsune?**

Mikiko and Tsuki stood in one of the Hakumei's large basements, each wearing a pure white kimono. It was lit with many flame torches, revealing what was in this dark room. On the floor were many intricate seals made with many swirls and kanji. Surrounding the circular collection of seals were most of the other high-ranked Hakumei. The Mizukage stood behind the twins, a comforting hand on each of their shoulders.

"Let us begin the ceremony!"

Five Hakumei ninjastepped forward and went on their knees around the seal. Focusing their chakra into their hands, they pressed them into the floor. Instantly, the seal started to glow an eerie green.

Tsuki stepped forward as well, walking to the middle of the seal. Her eyes did not hold the playfulness they usually held. When she reached the middle, she stood facing the Mizukage. He also had a serious look on his face. He nodded for Tsuki to continue.

Taking out a kunai knife, she sliced across her arm and spilled the blood in a circle around her. The seal glowed red and the hum of chakra use increased. Sitting down in a meditative position, she exhaled, the cut already healing itself. Tsuki shut out all the noise from her mind as she breathed evenly. Her mind at peace, she spoke to the demon.

_'Byakko-sama. It's time,'_ she thought, feeling another presence in her mind awaken. It growled, but seemed to nod. In the real world, the many Hakumei stared in awe as yellow chakra started to seep out of the girl's body.

It surrounded the girl, who at last opened her eyes. The purple irises had grown darker and her pupils were now mere slits, a collective gasp erupted from the small crowd. Her hands grew claws and her fangs grew larger and sharper. When the transformation was complete, a single thin yellow tail made of chakra, along with what looked like cat ears, grew. The seal glowed black. Suddenly, a burst of smoke exploded in the middle of the seal, concealing their Heir.

Mikiko visibly stiffened as her eyes sought out her sister. The Mizukage's grip on her shoulder strengthened, reminding her not to do anything rash.

The smoke started to clear, and in the middle of the circular seal lay Tsuki, unconscious, but something was different about her. The ears and tail from before had remained, and weren't made of chakra anymore. The white tiger ears had replaced her human ears, but all other traces of her inner demon had disappeared, other than the tiger ears and tiger tail.

The girl breathed calmly as their father, the clan leader, picked her up and carried her out of the room. Satomaru let go of Mikiko's shoulder as the seal reverted back to it's original green color and Tsuki's blood disappeared.

"Okay Mikiko, your turn."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

A week after that secret ceremony, Riku was released from the hospital. He walked out of the double doors, stopping to breathe in the fresh air. He stretched his arms and sighed.

"Ahh...it's nice to get out of that prison," he smiled happily as he started to walk through the village's main street, "Though I could have gone without the three days of extra rest," he added, weaving through the now growing crowd.

The familiar smell of cooking bread and ramen reached his nose. He grinned, knowing exactly where to find his teammates, especially because it was lunchtime. _'I'd bet anything that Tsuki's dragged Mikiko to her favorite ramen restaurant...'_ he though, inwardly grinning. Already he can imagine the scowl on Mikiko's face from Tsuki's over-excitement.

Ducking under the cloth hanging over the entrance, he entered the restaurant. An explosion of cheers met him.

Sitting at one of the tables near the middle was Tsuki, who was sitting across a burly man who looked to be at least 7 feet tall if standing. There were piles of empty ramen bowls next to each of them. The two were glaring at each other, and the crowd went silent, feeling the tension in the room. The on-lookers' gazes went from girl to man and back again, trying to decipher the message that they were telling each other.

Riku blinked, finally spotting Mikiko, who was casually leaning against the wall of the room. It seemed that all the customers were now gathering around Tsuki and her "opponent". Making his way around the crowd, he stood next to Miko, who acknowledged his presence with a nod.

Riku whispered the question that had popped into the top of his head. He didn't feel the need to have all those eyes on him.

"Hey, Mikiko-chan, what's with Tsuki and that fat guy?" She raised a brow at the fat comment before narrowing her eyes ever so slightly at the situation.

"A ramen eating contest."

Riku sweat dropped as he looked back at the two "competitors" being engulfed by the now growing crowd. A bell rang from the back and everyone's attention was directed towards the waitresses now walking out of the kitchen in an orderly line. _'Damn. There are at least 10 of them. How much ramen can a person eat?'_ he thought, eye now twitching as he vividly imagined the two eating like pigs.

Out of the corner of his eye, he looked at his teammate. Her purple eyes were emotionless, but he couldn't help but notice the frown etched into her face.

Another round of cheers rang out as Tsuki and the man (Riku smirked as he noted that she was small enough to hide in his shadow) picked up their chopsticks. The first waitress served the two bowls on her tray, one each. Backing away hurriedly, she scampered back into the kitchen. The two glared at each other again. One bystander stepped forward with his arm up.

"The rules are simple. First one to eat 10 bowls of ramen wins! The winner will get bragging rights as the Mist's Ramen Lover!" Mikiko sighed as Riku looked like he was about to burst with laughter. He covered his mouth with his hands. When he recovered (it took quite a while), he turned his head towards the quiet twin. She answered his question before he opened his mouth to speak.

"Tsuki is very proud of her love for ramen. She will not back down from a fight concerning it," she stated simply, as if it were completely obvious.

They both turned their attention back towards their other teammate, who had a very determined look on her face. The "judge" raised his arm yet again.

"3..." The grip on their chopsticks tightened.

"2..." They glared at each other harder.

"1..." Both looked down at their respective bowls.

"GO!"

Their chopsticks seemed to move like lightning as they plunged into the broth. '_Tsuki looks like she's inhaling the thing! Holy shit, that girl can eat fast!'_ thought Riku in awe as she finished her bowl and raised her hand for another. Her opponent was only a little behind, just finishing his bowl.

The waitresses served the next course, looking slightly awe-struck. The crowd exploded again into cheers. Riku's ears picked up the different chants for each ramen lover.

"GO GO LITTLE NEKO!"

"BEAT HER, TOKO KAFUKU!"

He sweat dropped. _'Endless Stomach...?'_

Mikiko's emotionless mask came back on as she stared at their very different eating habits. Tsuki seemed to just slurp it all up and swallow it. Chewing didn't apply. The man, whom she identified as a man named Taro (having a ramen lover as a sister, you couldn't help but know these things), ate his ramen with no manners. Some of his soup flew out at the crowd, who shielded their eyes with their arms in exasperation.

Mikiko disapproved of this little contest, but made no comment of it. Whether or not her teammate noticed, she didn't care. Any extra attention they got at the moment could be dangerous, considering the ceremony they had been through the week before. Her face remained blank, but her eyes glazed over in deep thought.

The next thing she knew, there were screams of approval and a distinctive scent in the air. Barf. She snapped out of her thoughts, being dragged by Riku over to Tsuki, who was now standing on top of her chair. Her arms were raised in triumph. The girl grinned widely as they approached her.

"No one makes fun of my love for ramen."

Riku grinned back, slapping his hand against hers in a hi-five. Mikiko stood their emotionless, but Tsuki didn't seem to notice._ 'She must be used to it,'_ reasoned Riku as the three walked out of the restaurant calmly. The loser had to pay for the towering bill that they both had.

The silent girl inhaled the fresh air, a big difference to the heat filled room with only the smell of ramen (and a little throw up mixed in).

"In a month we have a big mission," she said suddenly, attracting the attention of the two loud Genin. They looked at her in slight confusion, trying to decipher her emotionless face. Finding nothing, they waited for her to explain herself.

"We should train hard for it."

Tsuki seemed to accept her answer for now, but Riku was a little wary.

"What kind of mission do we need to train hard for?" he asked, now eying her with interest. For a child, she seemed to be very vague about things. Mikiko shook her head slightly. Sighing, Riku gave up on this futile pursuit.

They reached a fork in the road. Riku turned east, the girls west. All shared a look before going their separate ways.

As Riku was walking, he thought about Mikiko's odd premonitions. _'I wonder what she meant? Man, she can be so weird sometimes...'_

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Later on at the Hiroshima estate, Mikiko had showered and gotten ready to go to bed. She looked around the navy blue colored room and sighed, lying down on her bed. Her inner demon seemed a little concerned at her vessel's behavior.

**_'Oi, pup, you okay?' _**It was a smooth voice, like the wind. Before long, Mikiko found herself in the demon's seal world.

However, it was not like Naruto's. Instead of the sewer-like environment, this demon's seal was more habitable. It was simply a small forest, surrounding a mirror-like lake. Every time Mikiko had "visited", it had been night with a full moon.

Hovering over the circular lake was a large white wolf with nine tails, at least 30 feet tall. Everything about it was white; one might mistake her for the Hyuuga version of a demon. The she-demon glowed with a pale white color, like she was ready to fade away at any moment. The aura surrounding it was that of darkness, squeezing Mikiko's heart until it felt ready to burst. This strange aura screamed of hatred, but held no blood lust. Strange.

"You called me, Yurei-sama?" uttered the girl, gazing into the colorless eyes. The demon wolf just barked out a laugh. It grinned down at the young Hakumei,revealing razor-sharp fangs.

"**You seem out of it today. That ceremony bothering you?"**

Mikiko grimaced, remembering how she woke up the next day with pure white ears and a bushy wolf tail. It wasn't something you'd expect to see when you look in a mirror.

"It'll get some getting used to. At least for now, can you keep this genjutsu up?" she asked politely. One should never disrespect this kind of demon. After all, she was in charge of all spirits. Or at least that's all she knew of her. Yurei was a secretive demon.

The ivory furred wolf nodded her massive head. Mikiko can feel the power that this one being had in the air around it. The way it held itself reminded her of a wise person who has seen and knows much.

"**Today you will begin your training as a kitsune, pup. I will be doing this every night while you sleep unless I feel that you shouldn't be training that day. You will call me Yurei-sensei or just sensei from now on. Is that clear?"** Her sleek voice held no room for back talk. Miko merely nodded, imagining herself in her training kimono. After all, it was _her_ mind. Why shouldn't she be able to control things in it? Her outfit instantly changed to her liking.

The grand wolf demon shrunk herself until her head reached Mikiko's. Her tails fanned out behind her.

"**Are you ready, pup?"** With a nod from the girl, she charged.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

A month later, after much D-class missions and complaints, they were called to the Mizukage's office. Needless to say, Riku was a little freaked out. Mikiko's odd statement the month before might come true. With a nod from Satomaru, the three sat down in the chairs in front of his desk. The not-so-young leader folded his hands together and placed them on his deck, looking very official.

"Team 11; Hoshigaki Katsu, Takamoto Riku, Hakumei Tsuki, and Hakumei Mikiko. Today I will be giving you a very important mission."

Riku mentally slapped himself. _'What is she, some kind of psychic?' _The Mizukage continued on.

"In separate groups, you will be delivering a message to the village of Konoha , located in the Fire Country. You must give the message to their Rokudaime Hokage," he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "I think that the information in this scrolls will greatly interest him...especially now that their alliance with the Sand has been confirmed," he grinned a little, and the students instantly saw the similarity between father and son; Katsu and him.

Tsuki raised her hand, as if asking permission to speak. The kage nodded.

"Ano...well, what does this have to do with us?" she asked. He smiled.

"This has a lot to do with both you and Mikiko. I trust that Riku has been informed...?" Katsu nodded.

"You will be sharing this ceremony with the Rokudaime. You wouldn't be surprised to know that he is a jinchuuriki as well; that is, if you've paid attention in history." At this he eyed Tsuki, who laughed sheepishly.

The Mizukage distinctly remembered being told that the heir to the great Hakumei clan had been spacing out in class every week or so, completely ignoring anything their teachers have said. The only thing that can snap her out of her so called daydreaming was a pinch to her cheek. He found it a little amusing that the one kid who was supposed to be behaved wasn't, but her sister was.

"When asked about the mission, only tell them that you have to deliver a scroll to the Hokage from the Mizukage, and that it's important." The team nodded in understanding, absorbing the mission facts like a sponge. They would not let their Mizukage down.

"The first groupwill leave the village tomorrow at dawn. It will take approximately four fays to reach it. The next group will leave after the first returns. Mikiko and Riku will go first with two ANBU. Then, Katsu and Tsuki with one ANBU. I wish you all the best of luck. You're dismissed."

"Hai! Mizukage-sama!" They said in unison, saluting their leader.

When the door shut behind them, Satomaru twirled in his chair and looked out at the village through the window behind him. He sighed.

"I hope I'm making the right decision..."

**End Chapter**

Okay, thanks you for reading people. . I couldn't help but put that one ramen segment...I just wanted you guys to know Tsuki a little more since I covered Riku and Mikiko's personalities a little better. I hope you guys don't mind. Anyways, from now on I'll try and make my chapters as long as this one. So far the known jinchuriki are:

Naruto – Kyuubi

Gaara – Shukaku

Mikiko – Yurei

Tsuki – Byakko

By the way, I know that kitsune usually means fox, or fox demon. I kind of changed the meaning to better suit this fanfiction. I'm making it mean half demon or animal demon. No honorable wolf or cat would like to be called a fox, right?

Okay, gotta go you guys. Ja ne!


	7. Village Hidden in the Leaves

**Kitsune Legends**

I'm really sorry but I had to change the key a little bit to better suit the fan fiction. I kind of messed up. I made it so that the demons can't think to themselves without being heard by their vessels. -sweat drops- Whoops. Also, remember that when talking to the demon directly (like when in its seal world) they don't need to "think" to them. They talk.

And I'm sorry for not updating earlier. Science project and community service. The teachers always seem to jump new stuff on you when you least expect it...heh.

-glares at all the pop-ups and waves them away- Geeze. There's like 2x as much pop-- -another one appears- Bah. 2x more pop-ups than usual. Is anyone else noticing this, or is it just me? Nothing has changed from the last 2 weeks to make this happen, -groans-.

Anyways, on with the story!

Key: "Talking"

_'Thinking'_

**_'Demons thinking to themselves'_**

**"Demons talking/Demon language"**

**'Demons talking to their vessels telepathically'**

**EDITED!**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I own the OCs so no touchy! Rofl.

* * *

**Village Hidden in the Leaves**

The first part of the mission was for Riku and Mikiko, accompanied by two ANBU. They were to deliver the first scrolls, containing information about kitsune and demons in general. After they return, Tsuki and Katsu will go, accompanied by only one ANBU. This group will give them information about the ceremony. If the Rokudaime likes what he's seeing, they were to perform it for him at a later time.

At the break of dawn, Mikiko arrived first at the village gates sporting her full black ninja gear and a backpack in tow. Looking at the dark sky, she noticed that she had gotten there early. Sighing, she sat down and meditated while waiting, legs crossed and hands on her knees.

Twitching her genjutsu hidden wolf ears, she tested them out some more. They seemed to give her the ability to hear farther away and more accurately. Turning her white ears this way and that, she heard Riku jumping on the rooftops a block away, carrying the scroll on his back.

He landed next to her, yawning widely. She opened her grape colored eyes to observe him silently. His brown spiky hair that seemed to be weighed down by gravity hung around his face. Those usually mischievous looking blood red eyes were now a dull.

Riku was not a morning person.

"Ohayo...Mikiko-chan." Even his greeting sounded tired. She raised a brow in response and nodded, now concentrating on looking for the ANBU. When they appeared out of the shadows without her knowing, she sighed inwardly. _'I need more practice...'_

They all left without a word in a straight line; ANBU, Riku, Mikiko, ANBU. The ANBU in front, who seemed to be female judging by her long, black, waist long hair, set a moderately fast pace.

Behind Mikiko, the ANBU seemed to notice the genjutsu around her head and her abdomen. He raised a silent brow, but said nothing. He remembered the other mission he was given. _'Observe the Hakumei and report back anything strange that happens.'_

When they reached the ocean and were about to climb into a boat, Mikiko suddenly stopped walking, her eyes glazing over with a dull sheen. Riku looked at her in confusion, waving his hand in front of her face.

Nothing.

"Mikiko...chan?"

Her breathing slowed until it made Riku nervous. He looked back at the ANBU and they both shrugged. The kunoichi picked Mikiko up bridal style and put her in the small rowing boat.

She didn't wake up.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

A few minutes later Mikiko found herself trapped in the blackness of her own mind, with Yurei accompanying her. She sighed.

"Gah, those visions always leave me out of control of my own body...is there any way we can not leave my physical self so...defenseless?" she hissed out the last word. She never liked to say that word, especially when talking about herself. Yurei merely cocked her grand white head, thinking.

"**I suppose I can take control of your body when this happens. Remember, _two_ souls inhabit this body."**

She nodded in response as the wolf disappeared from view. Outside the confines of her mind, 'Mikiko' opened her eyes, the same emotionless mask on as before.

"Mikiko-chan? You alright?"

She sat up and looked to her right, finding Riku looking at her with anxiousness in his red eyes. **'So this is the notorious Riku-san.'** Yurei felt Mikiko shrug in her mind.

The demon focused her attention back on what was in front of her. Nodding, Yurei rubbed her temples a little before sensing someone observing her.

"Please do not stare at me like that, ANBU-san. It is rude," she stated, startling the man slightly. He never thought that a mere Genin can sense someone's gaze like that.

Pacing around her mind, Mikiko thought about her vision just now. Stopping at a halt, she grimaced. Pacing wouldn't solve anything. She was annoying even herself. Sitting down, she went over her vision yet again.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

_Mikiko found herself standing in front of another village's gates. It looked like it was summer, though it was currently autumn. The village was deserted; except for the occasional rustle of the dying leaves, there were no sounds. _

_None at all._

_Sighing, she walked through the village until she came to a large building with a big kanji sign for 'Lightning'. 'It must be the Village Hidden in the Cloud,' thought Mikiko as she walked into the building, completely fazing through the door._

_In the world of her visions, everything and anyone there cannot see, hear, touch, or sense her in any way. Also, she cannot alter anything, meaning no touching and interfering. _

_Walking down the stairway, she found herself surrounded by many other doors. Something was calling out to her from here. A pull at her being. Walking slowly, she looked from left to right, until the feeling in the depths of her soul overwhelmed her._

"_This door." And she walked in._

_The Cloud Village Council had been called together for an important meeting it seemed. The Raikage looked happy as he announced something that utterly shocked Mikiko._

"_In one month, we will attack the Mist with Kane and Yonbi." _

"_Yonbi? But that's...!"_

_She felt a tug at her soul again and the council room started to fade away._

_Her vision was ending. _

_Taking one last look at the room, she found a young red-head with blue eyes, twinkling with amusement. 'That must be him...'_

_And she was thrust from this vision of the so-called future. _

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Mikiko clenched her fists in frustration. The Cloud had managed to obtain Yonbi, the four tailed demon. Sighing, she fell silent, mulling this information over in her head. She lay down and slept, not wishing to take control of her body yet.

When she awoke, the day had gone by. She sat up again and watched Yurei shift in her seat to look at the sky. It looked like the sun had just set, a little bit of pink still in the night sky.

Apparently the team of ANBU and the two Genin had arrived on the shore of an island just off the coast of the mainland.

"We'll set up camp here until daybreak tomorrow. Get comfy," muttered the female ANBU before they both disappeared into the shadows. Riku shrugged and looked at 'Mikiko' again in slight worry. Yurei caught that glance out of the corner of her eyes, but did nothing to indicate that she did.

**'He suspects something. Am I not acting the way you would?'** At this the other soul just chuckled a little. _'I don't know. He might just be worried about me looking dead like I did this morning...'_

**'Either way I should be more careful around him...'** Both silently agreed on this. No one was to know about Yurei being inside Mikiko's body except the Kages. Said girl took back her control of her body and blinked. The feeling was, to say the least, surprising. The rush of taking control of her body again was overwhelming. Inside, Yurei just chuckled, but said nothing.

Riku was still staring at her. Raising a brow, Mikiko waved off his unspoken question.

"I'm all right Riku, really." He hesitated, but nodded. They both took off their backpacks and rolled out their sleeping bags. The campfire was crackling happily. Mikiko stood up abruptly.

"I'll go get something for us to eat...fish sound okay?" Riku just nodded, not feeling up to arguing. He preferred to eat real meat, but whatever.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Carefully picking her way through the forest by the beach, she found a small river filled with fish. Standing by the riverside, she took out some kunai and closed her eyes. Her hidden wolf ears twisted this way and that, trying to locate a fish jumping out of the water.

To her right, a moderately large fish made a little splash as it jumped out. Mikiko flicked her wrist and sent a kunai to pin it to a tree. Her eyes still closed, she was satisfied to hear a thud along with the futile efforts of the fish to free itself.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Half an hour later, she walked back with 5 fish, slightly wet, and the two of them chowed down on fresh fish. The ANBU were still nowhere to be seen; not that the Genin cared.

"Neh, Mikiko-chan," Riku chewed thoughtfully on his fish, "What's with that blank look you had this morning?"

"Oh. I was thinking about how I should tell Kazama-san the info. It's not exactly something you can just casually announce," she lied flawlessly. Inwardly, she grinned at how perfectly executed that lie was. Practice makes perfect, and Riku fell for the lie.

"I guess so." Mikiko eyed Riku, who had gone silent and was staring into space. He seemed to be distracted, but if Riku was anything like her sister, he was going to tell her eventually, so there's no use wasting breath by asking. Shrugging, Mikiko finished off her fish, crawled into her sleeping bag, and waited for sleep to claim her.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The next three days had passed uneventfully, for the most part. On the third day while Mikiko was taking a bath in a small lake, she just happened to catch Riku peeping on her. When Riku went missing for a few hours, the ANBU started to get worried and asked the young Hakumei about it. Shrugging, she replied with a casual "Around." They found him about half an hour later, floating down a river half naked, a very red hand print on his face. And his arm. And his chest.

After this horrifying experience (Riku didn't seem to give the full explanation, but anyone can tell it was scary), he never peeped on her again, much to her satisfaction.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The dense forest opened itself up to a very used path towards Konohagakure's large gates. The chuunin guarding the gate looked at the group with wary eyes after noticing the Mist symbol. He stopped them.

"State your business."

The female ANBU stepped forward.

"We are delivering an important message to your Hokage. Please let us through." She handed him some papers. After re-reading them multiple times (Who would trust ninja from the Bloody Mist village?), he signaled for the doors to open. A Leaf ANBU with a crane mask guided them towards the Hokage Tower.

This village was, different than theirs, to say the least. It had taken them all a while to get used to the hot weather. As they walked through the main street, Mikiko attracted some stairs towards her, and she kept her eyes forward, trying to ignore them. She couldn't help but hear their whispers with her new wolf ears.

"Look at that silver haired girl. Isn't that the Mist symbol?"

"What do they want here?"

"I hope they don't start something..."

"Of course not. At least not anything Hokage-sama couldn't handle."

They had confidence in their strong Hokage. Ironic, really, since just over 15 years ago, their feelings were the opposite, and they would have treated Naruto the way they're treating them now. With suspicion.

Riku however, wasn't handling the stares as well as Mikiko. Once or twice, she had to put her hand on his shoulder to stop him from talking back to them. Fortunately, they made it to the Rokudaime's office without any incidents.

The Leaf ANBU directed them towards his office, knocking on the wooden door.

"Hokage-sama, the Mist-nin are here."

"It's open."

They walked in to fine a towering pile of scrolls and papers on the Fire Country leader's desk. It seems that he had the same trouble as their Mizukage (Mikiko distinctly remembered nearly being buried alive under them when she was talking with him one day and they fell). Her gaze went towards the infamous Kazama Uzumaki Naruto, leader of the newly re-instated Kazama Clan and the country itself. His shining blue eyes had kindness in them, and he had a smile that matched it. Underneath the Hokage hat was a mop of bright yellow hair. The statue head of him outside on Hokage Mountain didn't do him justice. It didn't capture that expression and the aura of power that radiated off of him. Bowing, the genin introduced themselves to the higher ranking ninja.

"Welcome to Konoha. Please sit down." He waved towards the 4 chairs in front of him and they obliged after Riku took the big scroll off of his back and placed it in his lap. Naruto eyed it with interest.

"I guess that this scroll has the information you wanted to give us?" Mikiko nodded.

"I have one request though, Hokage-sama." He raised a brow and his smile became wider, beckoning her to continue. "Instead of just reading the information off of the scroll and showing it to your village council, I would like to personally tell them in a meeting. I expect that you know about my...tenant?" He nodded, recalling being told about the other jinchuuriki. Personally, he wanted to meet her and her sister because they were just like him and Gaara.

"I'll see what I can do, Hakumei-san. It might take a day or two to decide whether or not we'll fulfill that request. Until then, please enjoy Konoha's hospitality and relax."

Once they exited, another figure revealed itself from the shadows, wearing pitch black robes over a dark blue kimono. The Uchiha fan was stitched on his back. Uchiha Sasuke, proud leader of the newly revived Uchiha clan. His three-wheeled Sharingan deactivated when he was addressed by his former teammate and fellow new Sannin.

"Anything weird about them, Sasuke-teme?" Ignoring the insult, he shrugged.

"That girl had a genjutsu on her. But for some reason I couldn't see through it, even with the Sharingan. I couldn't risk using the Mangekyou Sharingan without being noticed by the two ANBU." Naruto rubbed his chin in thought, smirking. He was thinking about what the girl could be hiding under such a strong illusion.

"We can ask her about that once we get the council together for her meeting, neh?"

"Hn."

* * *

**End Chapter**

Heh, sorry for the cliff-hanger people, but I need to go work on my science fair project (and no, it's not optional...unfortunately). If any of you have any questions, please ask with a review. If not...well, review anyways, xD. Rofl.


	8. Filler: Divine Punishment!

**Kitsune Legends**

Ugh...this heat is getting to my brain...Forgive me for not updating any sooner (summer vacation shock and all that junk). Anyways, it took me a while to think up of the meeting, but I have the gist of what I want now, -smiles-.

Okay, let's get some things straight. Shang, thank you for the critique, you actually pointed some things out that I didn't see. Their first mission is more like...well, let's call it a preparation test for real life as a Genin. And as for the test and the Mizu Bunshin thing, I'm changing that now (don't worry everyone, only slight changes...it won't affect the chapter itself).

Oh yeah, and Reiko? Yonbi is the bijuu, and Kane is the jinchuuriki. Just felt like mentioning that.

Err...also, a couple more things. Hanyou is the real term for half-demon. -sweatdrops- Meh. I shall be using that term instead of kitsune in this story. All will be explained later on in the chapter. And...I changed Mikiko and Tsuki's last name. I thought it was too common. They are now Hakumei Mikiko and Hakumei Tsuki.

Anyways, on with the chapter!

Key: "Talking"

_'Thinking'_

_**'Demons thinking to themselves' **_

"**Demons talking/Demon language"**

**'Demons talking to their vessels telepathically'**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, but I own the OCs so no touchy! Rofl.

* * *

**Filler: Divine Punishment!**

Mikiko sighed for what felt like the 10th time that day as she and Riku wandered around the village, despite the curious stares they were attracting.

After being dropping off their stuff at their hotel room, Riku suggested looking around saying that they might as well sight-see while they were there.

By sunset, Mikiko's wrist was sore from being dragged all over Konoha and she was getting a headache from how much Riku was talking. Tearing her gaze at the sky, she looked back at her teammate in curiosity. He had stopped suddenly, and had a slightly sinister expression on.

_'I don't think I like that look on his face...' _A feeling of dread washed over her as she followed his line of sight. It was one of the hot springs, one of many in the Fire Country. She eyed Riku in suspicion and tried to pry her wrist out of his grip.

_'Nope, no luck. He ain't letting go.'_ Sighing in defeat, she let herself be dragged up to the front desk to pay for an hour of relaxation in the public bathes. But before they went their separate ways, she gave him a warning, eyes narrowing dangerously.

"I better not catch you peeking, Riku. Remember what happened last time?" Gulping, Riku quickly nodded and scrambled towards the dressing room. _'Scary!'_

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

About 10 minutes later, the silver haired girl eased into the soothing hot water. Sighing happily, she leaned against the edge of the bath, pointedly ignoring all gossiping females that were around her.

_'Finally...some peace...'_ she thought, closing her eyes and letting her tense muscles relax. Letting her mind wander, her thoughts eventually drifted towards her vision. She scowled. One week wasn't that much time to prepare for an attack, especially if it was from a fellow demon vessel and most likely an army of Cloud-nin.

Gobi no Hoko. The five-tailed forest dog. _'Yurei-sensei? Can you give me any information on this demon dog?'_ In response, she got a low growl. Apparently, the ghost wolf did not like him.

**'Gobi no Hoko, a foolish _gaki_ from the Eastern continent's Hayashi clan. The same Gobi that teamed up with several other bijuu and escaped to the Ningenkai the day before his punishment was to be decided. Coward.' **

She raised a mental eyebrow. _'What did he do?'_

**'Tch. That idiot went on a killing spree after a few of our guardians caught his precious mate/accomplice after they robbed a rare artifact from one of Seiryu's draclings.'**

_'Seiryu?'_

**'The Guardian of the East.'**

Just as Mikiko was about to respond, a pink haired woman waded towards her and interrupted her internal conversation.

"Uhm...excuse me, you are Hakumei-san, correct?" Opening a single purple eye, she looked at the person who greeted her.

"Yes."

Smiling, the woman who looked to be in her early thirties sat down next to her in the water.

"I am Hyuuga Sakura, wife of the Hyuuga clan head."

Opening both eyes, a look of recognition crossed her face. The Hyuuga were well known in the elemental countries. Especially in recent times now that the Branch house members' Caged Bird seals have been banned.

"Hakumei Mikiko."

Nodding, Sakura sized the girl up. She looked healthy enough at her age, unlike Naruto when he was younger. It looked like she was actually cared for. After learning of Naruto's 'tenant' and his life, she couldn't help but feel a little pity towards jinchuuriki. Especially after she heard that more were being born, and she was informed by Neji that this girl was also one, along with her twin.

Eventually her gaze moved towards Mikiko's right wrist. It looked a little swollen and red. Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"Mikiko-san, why is your wrist like that?"

Sighing, she raised her arm out of the water and looked at her wrist. She frowned slightly.

"My teammate wouldn't let go of me while he dragged me all over the village, sight-seeing."

Sakura stifled a giggle with her hand. "Would you like me to heal it?"

The younger female looked at her in slight surprise, before realizing just _who_ she was talking to. Hyuuga Sakura. The new Toad Sannin, and currently Konoha's Grand Healer, who surpassed even Tsunade, her sensei. She's also, Mikiko noted, a person that her sister wanted to rival in the healing arts.

"As you wish, Hyuuga-san."

Nodding, Sakura made a few hand seals, causing her hands to glow with a green aura. Several heads turned to watch as she healed her wrist. The glow eventually receded. Offering the woman a small smile, she took her wrist back.

"Thank you Hyuuga-san. It feels much better now. However, I have a question for you." Mikiko had been wondering about this for the last few minutes. Sakura tilted her head a little to show her confusion.

"Why is it you wished to speak to me?" She blinked a few times, dully wondering the same thing. Then it hit her.

"Oh! I just wanted to meet you, and tell you that Hyuuga-sama has agreed to attend the meeting that you requested. The Nara's, Akimichi's, and Yamanaka's are the only ones yet to agree or reply. They are currently out of the village."

Mikiko nodded once. "Arigatou, Hyuuga-san. That's good to know."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Meanwhile, on the other side of the hot springs, Riku was bored out of his mind. Groaning, he sank all the way into the water and blew bubbles. The other guys sent him funny looks. _'It's so boring here...nothing to do...'_ he popped his head out of the water and stared at the wall separating the two public bathes. An idea started to form in his head. Riku grinned, his red eyes glinting mischievously.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Genjutsu hidden wolf ears twitched, listening in on all of the conversations taking place in the hot springs. The feeling of impending doom rushed up Mikiko's spine, causing her to suppress a shiver.

Closing her eyes, the young hanyou searched for a certain boy's chakra signature. A vein popped up on her head.

He was right next to the bamboo wall.

Sakura eyed the young Genin when she sensed something move underneath that strange genjutsu. Something didn't feel right about it. What could she be hiding under there?

Mikiko stood abruptly and got out of the water. Immediately after doing so, she smelled blood and heard muffled giggling. She wrapped her towel around her wet body, the vein on her head got bigger. A little killer intent leaked out of her.

Frowning, the Sannin tilted her head at the blood lust.

"Mikiko-san? What are you doing?"

"I'm going to go give my _dear teammate_ his punishment."

She blinked, then scowled.

"Would you like some help, Mikiko-san?"

The girl smirked slyly. "I'd be insulted if you didn't."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Hehehe..." Riku muffled his perverted giggling with his fist and tried to wipe away his slight nosebleed.

The plan was perfect. Mikiko would never suspect Riku to try peeping again so soon after getting caught. And besides, he was getting better in repressing his chakra and sneaking around.

Riku once again poked his head out of the tree he was in and took out his binoculars to get a closer look.

"Hehehe..."

_'Hmm? Where did Mikiko-chan go?'_

A faint rustle behind him alerted him to another's presence. He turned around with his binoculars still up on his eyes . . .

and met face to face with _very _angry, flaming purple eyes belonging to one Hakumei Mikiko.

Riku shrieked before falling out of the tree in an undignified pile. Mikiko dropped out of the tree after him, landing with more grace. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot.

'_Uh oh…'_

But before she can open her mouth to severely scold her teammate and possibly beat him within an inch of death, more perverted giggling came from the same tree that Riku just 'left'. Narrowing her eyes, she glared up at the head of long, spiky white hair that was sticking out of the tree.

Sakura then made her appearance (trying to hold back her obvious anger at a certain perverted ex-Sannin, if the dangerously twitching eyebrow and clenched fists were any clue).

"Jiraiya-_sama_? What do you think you're doing?" hissed the pissed woman through gritted teeth. Riku paused in his thanks to kami for surviving so far to blink stupidly at her, before looking at the man in a new light.

"Did…Did you just say Jiraiya-sama? You mean _the_ Jiraiya-sama, author of _Iccha Iccha Paradise_?"

Said perverted Sannin turned around at the mention of his famous series of books, completely ignoring Sakura.

"Ehhhh? Are you a young fan?" Riku nodded his head frantically.

"YEAH! I've read all of your books so far...but my all-time favorite is _Iccha Iccha Paradise: Christmas Special, Gold Edition_! I especially liked the use of mistletoe and the whipped cream!"

((AN: -coughs a little- I won't be going any farther than that, seeing that this is T-rated, and that certain…people will smack me for writing more, not that I would want to.))

Sakura gaped, horrified that Jiraiya's corruption has spread out as far as young boys in Kiri. The young half-demon who had been watching the scene, now let out a low, slightly animalistic growl at the two perverts. The three stared at her, eyes widened at the growl that can so far only be compared to the Inuzukas.

"Perverts." She turned to Sakura. "Hyuuga-san, would you please punish them? I cannot, due to the fact that this is not my village."

She smiled sweetly at the guys and let out some killer intent, causing them to back away slowly.

"Ah. Please call me Sakura-san, Mikiko-san. Hyuuga-san makes me feel old. And as for these guys, I'd be glad to." She cracked her knuckles and grinned maliciously. "You two are lucky that we're in times such as these. Or else I'd beat you up more for peeping in the bathhouses."

She jumped in front of them and cocked back her fist. Riku and Jiraiya cringed and got ready for a very _hard_ impact (being perverts, they had to know who gave the worst punishments for their 'research' and 'enlightenment' as they call it). But right when they cringed, she pulled back and formed several hand seals and poked them both in the head.

"Tenrai Keigoku (Divine Punishment)!"

They screamed and fell to the floor, twitching horribly and for some reason covering their crotches. Sakura turned around with a satisfied smile.

"You…have experience with this." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Of course! After years of dealing with perverts, I had enough. I made a genjutsu especially for these cases! Isn't it wonderful? Do you want me to teach it to you?"

Mikiko nodded immediately. It would come in handy if she caught Riku peeping again, which would most likely happen in the next week or so. Curiosity took over her.

"Sakura-san…what exactly does Tenrai Keigoku do?" Mikiko was almost afraid of the answer that she would get.

"Oh. Well, it's a genjutsu that involves some very uncomfortable things shoved up where the sun don't shine, and some of the ladies they peeked on, fully clothed, kicking and beating them on their –"

"Ah. Divine Punishment. How fitting."

Sakura's smile widened in response. She was really starting to like this girl.

"I can teach it to you right now if you want. I don't have any appointments today and Tsunade-sama is in charge of the hospital today.

The rest of the day was spent teaching and mastering this genjutsu. Jiraiya and Riku, meanwhile, were on the ground where they were left, recovering from the horrifying (and painful) illusion.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The next day, a chuunin knocked on their hotel room door and opened it to find Riku in the corner of the room, muttering about the abuse of kunai and Mikiko on the bed, sharpening the said weapons.

He sweat dropped. "Uhm…am I interrupting something?"

Mikiko smiled softly and shook her head. "No. Is there something Hokage-sama needs?"

"Ah. Well, the meeting that you requested will be in two hours. He wants you to prepare and be at the Hokage Tower fifteen minutes before the meeting."

"Hai."

Nodding, the chuunin left.

As his teammate was getting ready for the meeting, Riku was pondering over what he should do while waiting. He still had mental scars from the genjutsu he had put up with the day before.

'_Ah, screw it. I'm going to another hot spring later. Hehehehe…'

* * *

_

**End Chapter**

I already have most of the next chapter out (I didn't realize I typed so much!), but I figured since this barely has anything to do with the actual plot, I made it a filler.

Anyways, please review! Oh, and if you have any suggestions that have to do with -ahem- 'punishing' perverts, feel free to say so. I'll gladly consider it.


	9. Meetings with Demons and Spirits

**Kitsune Legends**

Alright, I hope you guys were all able to put up with the filler. Anyways, in this chapter, many questions concerning the plot and so on will be answered (not that anybody asked, but I think some of you are curious).

Key:

"Humans/Hanyou speaking"

'_Thinking'_

"**Demons talking in full demon forms/Demon language"**

'_**Demons thinking to themselves'**_

'**Demons talking telepathically to their vessels'**

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I do own Yurei and the OCs though.

* * *

**Meetings with Demons and Spirits**

Konohagakure no sato's village council was made up of the most powerful ninja clan leaders, the Hokage, some select civilians, and a few of the most powerful ninja, including the Sannin (both generations).

All of the council members sat along the walls on mats behind low tables. Naruto, along with Sakura, Sasuke, Shino, Shikamaru, Neji, and two civilians sat along the wall opposite the only door, while the rest of the council who had gotten there so far sat along the other walls. A few people were still missing when Mikiko was ushered in, including one Hatake Kakashi.

Fingering the large scroll, she sat on the mat in the middle of the room after bowing to everyone. If she was nervous, she didn't show it. Showing weaknesses in front of _any_ council was a bad idea. She sat in the traditional position with her feet tucked underneath her and quietly waited while she was sized up by the council.

'_She seems to know what to do in council meetings. Not surprising, really. She is the back-up heir to her clan, after all…'_ thought Shikamaru.

A week prior to the Mist-nin's visit, Naruto had ordered him to get some research on them all. He had been about to protest, but before he can say his trademark phrase, his ex-prankster of a Hokage had threatened to tell his wife if he didn't. That got him saluting and rushing out of the tower quicker than you can say "black mail".

He glanced down at the folder in front of him and sighed. He opened it and re-read the papers again, with Sasuke, who was on his left, looking over at them also.

_Name: Hakumei Mikiko (picture of Mikiko, taken after they officially became Genin)_

_Age: 12_

_Gender: Female_

_Village: Kirigakure no sato_

_Rank, other: Genin, second in line to be Head of the Hakumei clan_

_Preferred choice of weapons: katana, wakizashi, senbon_

_Specialty: Taijutsu, genjutsu, kinjutsu_

_Current Team: Hoshigaki Katsu (sensei, one of the Mist's Seven Swordsmen), Hakumei Tsuki (her twin, Jinchuuriki no Byakko no Tora (Vessel of Byakko the tiger)), Takamoto Riku_

_Missions: D- 29, C- 2, B- unknown, A- unknown, S- unknown, SS- unknown _

_History: Involved in the murders of several Hakumei clan members and villagers when she was ten-years-old. Details are classified. _

_Other: Jinchuuriki no Yurei no Okami (Vessel of the ghost wolf), details concerning the demon are unknown_

Both shinobi frowned when they came across all the unknown information and this girl's history. Involved in murders? Just who is this girl?

Naruto smiled warmly at Mikiko when she came in and sat down, somewhat relieving her of the tension in the air. She gave a small, nearly invisible smile and closed her eyes for some meditation.

Naruto imagined shaking Kyuubi's cage to wake him up so he can talk to him.

'_Yurei, huh? Ghost wolf…yo, fur ball, recognize the name?'_ A snarl was his response at his disrespect before falling silent to ponder on the name, or so he thought. In reality, Kyuubi was thinking back on some very unpleasant memories concerning the wolf demon.

'**_Goddammit, of all the demons to be sealed inside this girl, it had to be Yurei!'_** He muttered some more curses under his breath, causing Naruto to raise a mental eyebrow.

'_So you DO know Yurei. Why are you cursing so much? I mean, more than you normally do.'_

'**Bah. We knew each other when we were kits, that's all…'**

'_So? She hates perverts like you, too?'_

During his training journey with Jiraiya all those years ago, he had gotten enough contact with Kyuubi's chakra that it allowed them to have a telepathic connection, much to Naruto's annoyance, once he found out that the fox was more of a pervert than Jiraiya himself and constantly sent him perverted images.

'…'

'_HA! I knew it! Ero-kitsune! So what'd she do to punish you? Knowing demons, it must have been harsh.'_

The occupants of the room could feel the smugness and happiness coming from the Hokage and couldn't help but ease up a bit and even smile. Only one council member was missing now.

**'…'**

'…'

**'…'**

'…'

'**Your old sensei is late again. Shouldn't you get someone to fetch him?'**

'_Don't change the subject! I'll deal with you later.'_

He looked around at everyone in the room, and the ever late Copy-nin was indeed late. He sighed and mumbled something about chronic perverts. His old teammates, who were sitting on either side of him (Sakura left, Sasuke right), grinned a little.

"Can someone go get Kakashi? Tell him I'll fry his books if he isn't here in ten minutes."

Several people snickered before Tsunade stood and walked out to fetch him.

While this was happening, Mikiko was silently conversing with her 'inner demon'.

'_Jinchuuriki no Kyuubi no Kitsune…'_

'**Hehe, it'll be nice to meet Kyuubi-teme again. It's been a while…'**

'…_?'_

'**Yeah, when we were pups, we always bickered and fought each other until it drove the others insane. A normal demon rivalry/friendship.'**

'_Ah. It seems that Kyuubi-san knows you're here, and Naruto-sama's getting some fun out of it. I don't think Kyuubi-san is that happy to be able to see you again…'_

A slightly rushed looking Kakashi was half-dragged into the room by Tsunade.

"Maa, maa, sorry I'm late everyone, I saw a frog drowning and after I saved it I was busy trying to teach his wife how to do CPR, but I didn't know how to do CPR on a frog. So I brought them to the vet, but it was closed because it's Sunday."

Everyone looked at him with a blank look that screamed 'LIAR'. He chuckled before taking his seat.

Clearing his throat to break the disbelieving silence, Naruto grinned widely at everyone.

"YOSH! Now that everyone's here, we can get this meeting, requested by this young lady here, started!"

Sakura was about to scold Naruto a little for being over-enthusiastic again in front of the Mist-nin before she saw Mikiko give him a smile, like she was used to this type of loudness.

"Okay, would you start by introducing yourself and telling us the reason you called us all?" She nodded and stood, bowing to everyone.

"Ohayo. I am Hakumei Mikiko, a genin from Kiri. I am here to further explain the scroll of information that my village has sent you as a gift for the alliance between our villages."

Murmurs were started up at this. How can a mere genin explain an important scroll? What's in the scroll? Why does it need further explaining?

"But before this meeting continues, I'd like to ask that you inform the guards outside to not interfere if they feel any strange chakra or…presences."

Eyebrows were raised in question.

"It would be best to show you the information in the scroll, rather than just letting you read it…"

Naruto spoke up before anyone can question the young jinchuuriki.

"Go ahead."

A civilian near the door went out and told the chuunin, making one glance inside and raise an eyebrow at the girl. He agreed nonetheless.

'**It seems that people are not taking you seriously…Heh, I'll love their reactions when they hear what's in the scroll and what we're here to do.'**

'_Hn.'_

After everyone was seated again, Naruto grinned.

"OKAY! Done."

Mikiko smiled a little before setting the scroll in a standing position in front of her (she didn't sit down yet).

"As some of you might know, I am the Jinchuuriki no Yurei no Okami. Therefore it is my duty to explain this scroll to you."

Silence.

Several people gaped at her. None of them have ever heard of this demon. Gears started to click inside their minds. Shikamaru however, already figured out what that had to do with the scroll.

"So…that scroll has something to do with demons? How troublesome…" he drawled out.

Mikiko nodded, appreciating the fast-thinking genius.

"Hai, Nara-sama. I would like to first however explain something having to do with this to help with the actual information."

She took out some paint, a paintbrush and a blank scroll and set them down, starting to draw a seal on the scroll. The ninja in the room tensed, just in case she might attack them.

After she finished she set the paint and brush aside and bit her thumb, drawing blood. She drew a smaller seal on her forehead. Looking up, she saw about half the room fingering kunai.

"I'm just using a seal to show you images that'll help me explain some stuff. No need to worry. I wouldn't want to endanger the alliance would I?"

This somewhat eased them.

Finishing off the sealing with several unknown hand seals, the seals on her head and on the small scroll glowed blue before a holographic picture of the planet showed up above the scroll. Mikiko stepped back a few paces, to let everyone see it.

"As you all know, this is our planet. However, there are two other worlds or realms as we'll call it, parallel to this one. The first is Makai, or hell, the world of beasts."

Another globe the same size as Earth appeared. It had the same amount of water, but it was separated into five large continents. Other than that, it didn't look any different. It wasn't what they expected from Hell.

"The second is Joukai, or heaven, the world of spirits."

A third globe appeared, but there was one big continent and another much smaller one on the other side of the world.

"Both Makai and Joukai were created long before Ningenkai. However, everything is not as black and white as it seems. There is both good and evil in both worlds, though obviously more evil in Makai. To deal with those bad immortals, a council was born in each world to deal with it. The Demon Council and the Heaven's Council each had 13 members. Kyuubi-sama is on the Demon Council."

Everyone in the room was either upset or enraged at the term of respect the girl had given the demon fox. He is the same demon that gave them all much grief, especially their leader. However, they were silenced when Naruto cleared his throat again. He motioned for Mikiko to continue.

She nodded, and pictures of both councils replaced the spinning globes.

On the Demon Council, all 13 demons were had either 8 or 9 tails. All of them sat in a semi circle on mats, and they did not look like the demons they were thought to be. These creatures looked calm and poised, almost like nobles.

This surprised everyone, especially Naruto. He looked directly at the silent observing hanyou.

"Then why did ero-kitsune attack us?"

He was supported by a few shouts of agreement.

"I will explain that later on." The crowd eventually settled down and looked at the picture of Heaven's Council. It showed 13 spirits of different ages and gender (they couldn't tell with the demons) with white wings. They were sitting in the same positions as the demons, with the same expressions.

"Eventually, the Gods that created Makai and Joukai created Ningenkai, so that all three worlds would be connected. However, since it was a younger realm and consisted of mortals and is a mix of lesser creatures from both worlds, the immortals were ordered to make another council that was higher ranking then their own, to rule over it, since Ningenkai connected everything. This was called the Grand Council, which was made up of both demons and spirits."

Another picture showed up in between the other councils. Upon seeing a certain demon through his vessel's eyes, Kyuubi started to grumble.

'**Oi, gaki. Here's some info on Yurei if you want it…she's on the Grand Council. Fourth from the right…the wolf with no pupils like your Hyuuga.'**

'_What the hell?'_

'**_Hehehe…that ought to cause her a little trouble…'_** thought the demon.

Naruto voiced his amazement and pointed at the picture of Yurei.

"Oi, Mikiko! How come Yurei has Hyuuga eyes?"

Neji narrowed his eyes when he heard this was Yurei. Others blinked in confusion or raised eyebrows.

"Ah, yes. Kyuubi-sama told you, right? Yes, Yurei is on the Grand Council, which was why I had to come and explain this to you. I told you guys that Ningenkai had several similarities to the other worlds. It just so happens that the general appearances of the Hyuuga eyes were based after the Yurei."

The Council pictures disappeared, and were replaced by detailed pictures of Yurei and a spirit with bright green eyes.

"On the Grand Council are two immortals that are in charge of life and death. Yurei is Death, and that spirit, Tenshi, is Life. Please note that the term 'angel of death' came from the last generation, where the Yurei was a spirit and vise versa. These chosen ones are not necessarily from one clan. They are just born. The distinctive traits for each immortal are that the Yurei has white eyes, and the Tenshi has green eyes and gray streaks through the wings or tails."

Sakura and some other people were now wondering about the Shinigami (God of Death)and why she kept calling them 'the Yurei' or 'the Tenshi'. She raised her hand to get her attention.

"Mikiko-san? What about the Shinigami? Isn't he death, not this demon?"

'_I'm starting to feel like an Academy teacher…'_

Yurei didn't answer, but Mikiko could feel the amusement coming off in waves.

She replaced the two pictures with a large detailed picture of a Shinigami. Several of the weak-minded people screamed, and the ninja flinched. It was a horrible looking creature.

It was a beast that had pale, almost scaly, red gray skin and claw like hands. The Shinigami's head however was definitely _not_ human. There were horns made of bone on its narrow head with sharp teeth and long spiky white hair. It wore a large, tattered, white kimono with that was tied loosely at the waist that had blotches of dried blood here and there, which hid whether or not the Shinigami had legs. A dirty, ripped, and bloody haori with large sleeves was worn over this. Clenched in its jaws was a dagger.

The chuunin outside shifted nervously at the screams, but didn't sense any foreign chakra signatures signifying attacks.

Inside Naruto, Kyuubi shifted nervously at the sight of the thing that sealed him. Naruto was gaping.

"_That's_ the Shinigami?"

"Correct," Mikiko nodded, "This is the Shinigami of the Elemental countries. There is one Shinigami for each continent on Ningenkai. Yurei is the leader of these Shinigami. Yurei and Tenshi have the job of deciding who goes to heaven or hell when they die and are ready to leave this world. Since more people go to hell, the Shinigami transport the dead spirits to Makai. That's why there isn't just one."

"What's the real reason you called us here, Mikiko-san? We could have just read all this. Surely there are pictures in the scroll?" asked a slightly confused Ino, now head of the Yamanaka clan.

Mikiko smiled and made the pictures disappear. The seals stopped glowing.

"There are several reasons why I had to call you all. First, however, Yurei would like to talk to Kyuubi-sama…with the help of Yamanaka-sama."

Ino blinked and watched Mikiko clean up the seals and put away the stuff. She set aside everything, including the information scroll. Ino looked at Naruto, who was staring blankly. She knew that he was talking to Kyuubi.

'_Talk to you? Why would she need to talk to you?'_

'…**hmm. It must be because I'm on the Demon Council. I think she wants to call the Grand Council and the Demon Council for a meeting here.'**

'_WHAT?'_

'**It must be important if they need to call 2 of the 3 worldly councils.'**

Narrowing his eyes, he nodded at Ino and beckoned Mikiko over to them. They got up and sat in front of Naruto. Ino made a couple dozen hand seals, then poked Naruto and Mikiko in the forehead.

"Ninpou: Seirei Isshou (Ninja Arts: Spirit Meeting)!"

All three slumped to the floor.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Mikiko's soul woke up to vast darkness next to Yurei, Ino, Naruto, and Kyuubi. Both demons were their full 125meter sizes (a bit taller than Gamabunta), towering over them all. Ino squeaked in slight surprise to be next to these demons. Looking surprised, Naruto walked over to stand next to Mikiko, who was staring at Kyuubi.

Both humans finally got a better look at Mikiko. In this spirit meeting, she cannot use genjutsu, so they saw her in all of her half-demon glory, tails and all.

Everyone except Yurei stared at her in surprise.

"**So…you made this kit a hanyou?"** chuckled Kyuubi. Both their nine tails were swishing this way and that.

"**Of course, ero-kitsune! How else would she help with our mission?"**

Naruto tilted his head and blinked. "Mission? Is that how you got sealed?"

Yurei turned to look at Naruto with those empty eyes and nodded.

"**As you know, there are several other jinchuuriki in Ningenkai. Since I am the Yurei, I can safely remove the demons from their vessels without killing them. I won't remove the bastard here yet since you need him. Besides, Kyuubi's mission isn't done yet." **

At the mention of his mention Kyuubi tensed up and snarled.

"**Byakko's mission with this pup's sister is different. They are here to collect all demon and spirit artifacts to prevent further use of them in wars."**

Ino narrowed her eyes.

"The Yurei? Isn't Yurei no Okami your name?"

Both demons started laughing at this outrageous question. She frowned. What's so funny?

Mikiko coughed a little to get Naruto and Ino's attention. They stared at her ears and tails.

"Hanyou means half-demon if you don't know. I'll explain it later. And…Yurei no Okami and Kyuubi no Kitsune are their titles. In Makai, if you know a demon's true name, you have power over them, so instead of names they have these titles."

Both nodded. Eventually the demons stopped laughing. Kyuubi wiped his eyes with a tail.

"**Ahaha…yo, bitch. You need to call the councils…right?" **He grinned cheekily, showing off his fangs. Yurei grinned in response.

"**Bingo, bastard. Finally got your head out of the bathhouses to start thinking, eh?"**

Grumbling, he tried to swat Yurei's head with a tail, but she blocked with one of hers, causing a minor earthquake to erupt underneath them all. Getting his footing again, Naruto poked Mikiko to get her attention.

"OI, Mikiko! Are they always like this?" This rivalry reminded him vaguely of him and Sasuke when they were younger, not that their rivalry improved much from back then. Mikiko sighed.

"Hai."

"**Anyways…yo, Naruto. We need your help to call the Demon Council and the Grand Council. We just need you to use Kyuubi-teme's chakra while the pup uses mines and does the seals and incantations."** Yurei laid down and got as close to eye level with them as she can, which wasn't much because they still had to crane their heads up to look directly at her.

"Why do you need to call the councils, anyways?" All this new information was giving Naruto a head ache.

"**We all need to discuss something after Mikiko-chan does her favor for you all."**

"Favor?" asked Ino and Naruto in unison.

"**You'll see. Just don't attack her when she does this. Jutsus that have to do with souls always give off a bad feeling."**

"Errrr…yeah, okay. Just tell me when to use the chakra okay?"

Mikiko nodded and smiled at the favor she was going to be doing for them. She looked to Ino, who was frowning. Why would they want to attack her?

"Yamanaka-sama. We can go now."

"Err, hai." She formed the ram seal.

"KAI!"

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Mikiko woke up and rubbed where she hit her head when she fell. She looked towards Ino and Naruto, seeing them wake up as well. The rest of the council was staring curiously at them.

"What'd they talk about?" asked Inuzuka Hana. Naruto waved off the apprehensive tone in her voice.

"You know those Demon and Grand Councils?"

Everyone nodded.

"They want a meeting with us."

Jaws dropped. They stared at Mikiko, who was taking off the bandages on her arms. It revealed many seals underneath that looked like it was carved into her skin. She took out a kunai knife, making the ninja take out their own knives again. Naruto shook his head, making them lower their weapons.

Mikiko went back to the middle of the room and re-carved a seal on her left arm, letting the blood drip down her arm and onto the floor. She didn't flinch in pain like normal genin would have. Putting down the kunai for now, she formed a hand seal and activated her bloodline limit.

"Rikkido Soujuu!"

Konohagakure's council watched in fascination as the blood floated around the girl. She placed her hand over her seal again and sucked out as much of her blood as she dared. Sakura and Tsunade gasped. That wasn't healthy. Panting slightly from blood loss, she took out a blood-replenishing pill from her ninja pouch and swallowed it, allowing Yurei to heal the wound.

Mikiko looked at the blood floating around her and spread it out along the walls, and drew seals on all of them and on Mikiko and Naruto's faces.

On the large seal that was drawn on the floor, she stood at one point and then looked at Naruto.

"Hokage-sama, can you stand at that other point?"

Nodding, he smiled and stood where she pointed.

"Okay. I will start calling the Grand Council now. When I tell you to, release Kyuubi-sama's chakra at a slow and steady rate. That's all you need to do."

He nodded, interested in this 'calling'.

Taking in a few breaths, she started rapidly forming hand seals, making her hands look like blurs to the non-ninja in the room. She reached inside herself and tapped into Yurei's chakra. It released, emitting an aura of death from the small girl. The council couldn't repress the shivers.

All the seals started glowing silver, and Mikiko started chanting in the demon language, which sounded rough and raspy to the humans. She stopped chanting on the dog seal and nodded to Naruto. Nodding back, he released Kyuubi's chakra.

The combined aura of both demons caused everyone else to sink to the ground from all the pressure. Mikiko started chanting and sealing again. The seals around them started glowing red.

A few minutes later, the seals started to become 3-D. A bright flash of blinding light erupted, making everyone close their eyes.

When they opened them, they found themselves sitting in a wide open plain with a river running through it. The ninja stood alert and looked around cautiously, but couldn't find anything dangerous, and settled down a little.

Panting, Mikiko struggled to get up again. The calling of the councils always took 80 of her chakra no matter how much her chakra reserves grew. She whistled to get everyone's attention.

"This is…a little pocket in space in time where all the councils meet. They will be joining us shortly."

The two Sharingan users in the room briefly exposed their dojutsu to check if this was an illusion.

It wasn't.

Finally catching her breath, Mikiko wiped her brow of the little sweat that came from the complex seals she did.

"In this little plain, all seals do not apply, so we are able to see Kyuubi-sama and Yurei-sensei in their true form. They may come out whenever they wish, however it'd be better to come out now, since they are on the councils I called." At this she eyed Naruto, who sighed at the prospect of seeing Kyuubi again.

A pulse of demonic chakra from both jinchuuriki revealed both Yurei and Kyuubi, though much smaller in their 15 feet forms. People tensed at the sight of them, especially Kyuubi.

Sighing, Yurei waved her tails and 26 mats appeared and placed themselves in front of everyone. She walked over to her own mat and lay down, signaling Kyuubi to do the same.

"Ahem." Everybody looked at Mikiko, who looked a little sheepish. "Err. I want to remind you all not to be disrespectful. These are all powerful immortals and…they are all at full power and are going to actually be here in real life. No illusion. No spirit projection. The real things."

Some people gulped at the prospect at being at the mercy of 26 immortal beings. If they could barely handle one, and could only seal him at the sacrifice of their best ninja, they wouldn't want to anger 26.

Kyuubi gazed at the hanyou lazily.

"**Yo, kit. What about that favor you wanted to do these ningen?"**

Everyone except Ino and Naruto showed different levels of confusion, though you couldn't tell with Kakashi because he had pulled out his little orange book again and was reading it. All the females glared at him, causing him to sweat a little at the killer intent. He put it away hastily just as the first Council member arrived in a flash of green. Yurei's head perked up at his appearance.

"**Hey! Tenshi, long time no see!"**

The spirit smiled and flew over to the wolf demon.

Some of the un-married girls blushed at his features. He had bright green eyes with long blonde hair that was tied in a low ponytail. His bangs were long as well, shoulder length, just like in the picture Mikiko showed them, along with the gray-streaked, white wings. He wore a white hakama and kimono top, with a large wooden staff in his right hand. It curved in a hook at the top, surrounding a very large diamond.

"Long time? It's only been 12 years…"

Naruto face-faulted at this. After getting up and rubbing his face, he scowled a little.

"'Only been 12 years'?" He repeated dully. Tenshi shrugged.

"When you've lived as long as we have, 12 years isn't really that much…" Both demons nodded, agreeing.

"**Anyways, Tenshi. I'll need your help for something the pup wanted to do for these people."**

The handsome spirit raised and eyebrow and looked at the slightly tired girl. Frowning, he flew over and landed in front of her. He looked over her, making her fidget slightly from the scrutiny she was going under.

"Is that so?"

She nodded. "Hai, Tenshi-sama."

Sensing good intentions, he smiled and tapped her head softly with his staff. The diamond glowed white briefly, before Mikiko felt all of her energy back. She smiled.

"Arigatou."

He just winked at her. "No prob." He flew back and went to his mat, which was right next to Yurei. They started chatting about random things.

Over the next 15 minutes, the Konohagakure Council watched as the rest of the 2 other councils came, one by one. The one thing everyone noticed was the all the spirits held different types of weapons. All were chattering before Yurei thumped a tail on the ground and sending a shockwave through it, making everyone go quiet.

"**All right, the Demon Council and the Grand Council are now in session. The topic of the Grand Council today is the possible new member," **said the demon in a loud and calm voice. Kyuubi spoke up next.

"**The Demon Council is here to discuss my mission and whether or not I abort it. Also, we are here to talk about the seal that Kazama Arashi used to seal me inside Kazama Uzumaki Naruto."**

"But first," piped up Tenshi," Hakumei Mikiko will help us release a soul from the stomach of one of Yurei's Shinigami."

All eyes turned towards the small girl, who stood up and smiled at the Leaf's Council.

"In order for this meeting to continue, we need one more spirit to be here. This spirit's name…is Kazama Arashi."

Eyes widened. Would she really do that? What about the seal? Naruto gripped his Hokage robes a little harder. The idea of meeting his father seemed too good to be true. Sasuke and Sakura both looked worriedly at their friend.

"Another spirit will only be freed if the Grand Council approves. It is my gift to you all." Turning around, she stood straight and spoke up clearly in a loud voice.

"I, Hakumei Mikiko, Jinchuuriki no Yurei no Okami, request the freedom of one more soul from the bowels of the Elemental Country's Shinigami's stomach."

A nine tailed black bird tilted his feathery head at her.

"**And who is this person?"**

"Sarutobi, the Third Hokage."

Tsunade and Jiraiya both gasped. They exchanged a shocked look.

The Grand Council started talking to each other about whether or not to approve. Tenshi and Yurei were already on her side and were helping her out. The same demon bird looked back at Mikiko with sharp yellow eyes.

"**Request granted, on two conditions. You will have to help out with Kyuubi's mission in Ningenkai. And, you must show your true form right now."**

"Hai. Arigatou."

Everyone turned towards Yurei and Tenshi, who got up and walked (or flew in Tenshi's case) towards an empty space near the 3 councils. Mikiko followed after putting down her kunai pouch and ninja pouch. She nodded to signify that she was ready.

Yurei let out a blood curling howl, summoning the Shinigami. It appeared in a burst of smoke, sending the stench of death and rotting corpses towards everyone. The Shinigami bowed to Yurei (they are both currently the same size) before straightening and glancing at Mikiko, who didn't flinch, like she was used to seeing the Shinigami.

Forming an unknown seal and then the ram, she yelled out "ONI KAI!"

The genjutsu faded, revealing her tails and ears to the rest of the Council (The Demon and Grand Councils saw through this weak demon genjutsu that Yurei put on her the moment the saw her). They stared in confusion at the strange features. She turned towards them with an emotionless face, getting ready for the task ahead of her.

"This is my true form. Over a month ago, I went through a ritual that fused me with Yurei's genes, causing me to become a half demon, or hanyou. My sister is one as well. When I return to my village, she will come with the last scroll to explain."

Turning back, she took a deep breath and allowed the thin tendrils of chakra that shot out of Yurei's tails wrap around her waist, arms, and legs. Tenshi pointed his staff at Mikiko, muttering an incantation that covered her with a white glow. She stepped towards the Shinigami.

"Open the portal."

Grinning (this made a few people shiver; it looked so evil like this) a circular portal opened where its stomach should be, causing a powerful vacuum that sucked in everything that it can. Pointing towards the rest of their company, the diamond on Tenshi's staff glowed blue before a large dome made of pure light blue chakra covered them all, as to not get them sucked in.

Taking a few more deep breaths, she ran towards the Shinigami and jumped into the portal, causing Naruto, Ino, Sakura, and Jiraiya (who knew her the most so far) to gasp, and the rest to stiffen. The thing wire like chakra extended, meaning she was going farther into the endless stomach of the Shinigami.

The air grew thick for the next few minutes as silence reigned. All were staring at the portal that suddenly grew red. Yurei felt a pull at her 'wires' and retracted them, pulling Mikiko out of the other dimension.

She fell out of the portal holding the hands of the Fire Country's Yondaime and the Sandaime. All three of them were panting for air.

The Leaf's Council stood up to get a better view of their heroes of the past. Kakashi, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Naruto all took a small step towards the panting trio, gaping at the forms of their loved ones.

The Shinigami closed the portal, bowed to Yurei, and then disappeared.

Both newly freed souls were still in the clothes they were wearing when they sacrificed their lives. Sarutobi was in his battle armor, and Arashi was wearing his white cloak with flames, a blue jounin vest, and regular black ninja clothes.

Grinning so wide that Tenshi briefly thought if his face would split, Arashi stood up and dusted himself off. He let out a satisfied sigh and pumped his fist in the air.

"FREE!"

The former Rookie Nine could tell right then and there that Naruto and Arashi were related, from their similar grins and their appearances.

Sarutobi got up and helped Mikiko up before dusting himself off as well. He smiled at her.

"Thank you for helping us, Mikiko-san."

She smiled back and started to lead them back towards the 3 councils (the protective chakra barrier was lifted), when they finally noticed who was there.

"Sensei?"

Arashi couldn't believe how much Kakashi had grown. The last time he saw him was in the Kyuubi battle when he was still a teenager.

"Kakashi?"

Said jounin stiffly nodded, still shocked. Both of them walked towards each other, meeting in the middle. They stared at one another, silent. Several minutes past as Sarutobi walked towards Tsunade and Jiraiya and chatted, catching up.

Mikiko looked skeptical at the reunion between teacher and student. They weren't doing anything. She shrugged before walking back to her mat and sitting. They must be reminiscing.

Suddenly, Arashi broke out into a full blown grin and smacked Kakashi on the back a few times affectionately, startling him out of his thoughts.

"So…Kakashi. Found a girl yet?"

Blushing heavily, he nearly face-faulted at this out of the blue question.

"_Sensei!_"

Arashi started laughing at his embarrassed ex-student. Then he looked towards the rest of the shocked Leaf Council. He raised his hand in a very Kakashi like greeting.

"Yo!"

This time, the entire council did face plants. Naruto was the first to recover. He got up and pointed a little angrily at Arashi.

"30 years of being gone from our lives and the first thing you say to us is 'Yo!'?"

Frowning, Arashi strode up towards Naruto and pointed at him.

"Yeah! What else could I say! 'I'm sorry for being away for 30 years because I had to give up my life to seal Kyuubi inside my own son?'?"

Now that they stood next to each other, people would have mistaken them for twins if not for the different clothes and the whiskers on Naruto. They all watched at the two bickered and argued, pointing fingers at each other and waving their arms around to emphasize their points. Finally, they turned away from each other and 'hmmph'ed, looking like they were fed up with talking to each other. However it was amusing to see both Hokage crying silent tears behind the other's back.

A nine tailed black dragon from the Demon Council who was sitting next to Kyuubi cleared her throat, instantly gaining the attention of everyone, as the sound was loud.

"**As much as I'd like to see this heart warming reunion go on, we need to continue with the meeting."**

Several other demons and spirits nodded.

Eventually everyone settled down, leaving Sarutobi and Arashi to sit on the mats that suddenly appeared on either side of Mikiko. The black dragon got up and took a step forward, signaling that she was going to speak.

"**I am sure you are all wondering why Kyuubi was sent to Ningenkai."**

She received some nods.

"**A few years prior to Kyuubi's arrival in your world, there was a human that dared to attempt something that is forbidden to you…"** the dragon paused to see them all listening intently, and some already guessing what she was going to say.

"**This human, attempted to gain…immortality."**

Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Sarutobi all flinched, knowing exactly who she was talking about. Sasuke tensed, remembering the times he had spent with the snake sannin. Sakura rest a comforting hand on his shoulder. After a few seconds, he nodded towards her in gratitude.

"**This crime could not go un-punished. We decided to send Kyuubi, since he had been to the Fire Country before to give another punishment. That is the reason why you humans have heard terrifying stories about him."** After this, she looked directly at Arashi, who gazed back at her boldly.

"**Usually the members of the 3 worldly councils only meet if something comes to their attention in the world they are chosen to keep watch over. Times other than that are spent in our own worlds, in Joukai and Makai. That is the reason why we didn't know that this Orochimaru had left your village by the time Kyuubi got there."** The dragon sat back on her mat, and Kyuubi stepped forward and eyed Arashi and Sarutobi.

"**I guess I should have known better than to arrive in my full demon form, considering that Ichibi no Tanuki had attacked the Sand a few days before. I'm sorry for that. However by the time I got there I was already being attacked by your shinobi. They never gave me the time to explain myself or to even shift into my half demon or human forms. Before I knew it, Arashi had finished the seals to summon the Shinigami and seal me into Naruto."** At this, Arashi had the dignity to look a little sheepish.

"**That last roar I gave before I was sealed was actually a message in our demon language to the Shinigami. I told it to tell Yurei the situation, seeing as she was on the Grand Council and was in charge of it."**

The demon bird from the Grand Council ruffled its feathers and put his two-cents in.

"**We got the message and decided as a punishment for not being more subtle in his approach to get information regarding Orochimaru, we'd let him be sealed until Naruto passed on. However, because of the seal, Kyuubi would die as well."**

The dragon spoke up again.

"**And that brings us to our discussion on the seal and why we needed to summon your village council. We need to alter that seal so that Kyuubi will live and be sent back to Makai. It is the same seal that traps Yurei and Byakko in the twin hanyou."**

She pointed a claw in front of the humans and a picture of the seal appeared. It looked just like Naruto's spiral seal, except that there were more complex markings on the outer edges.

"**This seal will only show itself when the seal is being removed or being activated, or in rare cases, when the demon inside the vessel wishes the seal to be shown."**

The dragon nodded once towards Yurei, who nodded back. The ghost wolf looked towards Mikiko, who was already standing up, facing the council. Yurei set up a temporary connection back to Mikiko and sent a small burst of chakra towards it. The seal showed up in black ink on her stomach before disappearing again after a few seconds.

Arashi and Jiraiya sifted through their experiences with sealing (since they were both sealing masters) and declared that it indeed let free the demon after the vessel died. Mikiko nodded before sitting down once again.

Kyuubi looked at Naruto.

"**Naruto, please step in front of Yurei no Okami. She is one of Makai's Master Sealers and has a specialty with seals regarding souls, seeing as she is the Yurei."**

Naruto got up and walked a little nervously towards Yurei, who was looking curiously at him. When he got in front of him, he bowed a little. Yurei smiled, showing some of her fangs. Then, before everyone's eyes, she shifted to her half demon form.

She had waist length white hair with the same eyes and pale skin. Her outfit was just like Tenshi's (hakama and kimono top), except it was black. White ears and nine tails twitched as she smiled again.

"Naruto, I will make a barrier around us so that no one else can see you undress enough for me to see your seal."

He blushed a little at the idea of stripping in front his friends, but nodded. A black dome covered them both at the wave of Yurei's arm.

A few minutes later, after a strangled cry of pain from Naruto, the dome dissipated, and it uncovered a smiling Yurei and Naruto, who was rubbing his stomach where the seal was altered.

"It's done. Continue the meeting. Naruto, you can sit down again."

He nodded stiffly and walked back to sit down as Yurei shifted back to her smaller demon form and sat on the mat. When everyone was sitting again, the dragon spoke.

"**Now that the seal is altered, we can move on. Kyuubi is to continue his mission to give Orochimaru his punishment. However, now that he is sealed inside you, Naruto, you will have to help him with this. Although, I think you would have helped 'punish' Orochimaru whether we asked you to or not," **she chuckled.

Naruto smiled and nodded.

"Of course! That bastard deserves to be punished after what he did to everyone. What's his punishment anyways?" Some people fidgeted with their hands at the casual tone he was talking with, but figured this is the most polite Naruto can be.

"**Orochimaru's punishment is death. Then, when his spirit is released from whatever body he's in, the Shinigami will come to take him to Makai for punishment given directly by us."**

He nodded, satisfied that Orochimaru would get punishment directly from some of the most powerful and (he hoped) sadistic demons in hell.

"**Next is the Grand Council's topic, which also involves you all,"** said Yurei,**" our possible new member is to replace one of the spirits on the council who wishes to retire. This human is someone you all know."**

An old looking man that looked like a Buddhist monk stepped forward, indicating that he was the spirit she was talking about. He eyed them all before speaking.

"The one that I wish to replace me was a kind and caring person, who would do anything for their loved ones. This person has been honorable, and is powerful. Their name is…"

The Leaf Council looked at each other in slight confusion as to the identity of this person. It could have been anyone.

"…Kazama Arashi."

Said Hokage gaped before slowly getting up and bowing.

"Ah, thank you for this honor, but I wish to stay on Ningenkai for a few more years, to see things I haven't seen for so long. I want to see my new family, and my village. But unfortunately I won't be able to speak with them as I will be a spirit."

The old monk nodded in understanding.

"That is acceptable. You can replace me whenever you are ready to leave Ningenkai. Although it probably won't be the last time you see it after you do, as you will be watching over it."

Arashi grinned and bowed again.

"Thanks for understanding." He sat down. Yurei cocked her head to the side.

"**I didn't tell you guys this, but since Mikiko is fused with my genes, she has also inherited the ability to see, hear, and touch spirits roaming in Ningenkai."**

Arashi and Sarutobi looked at the girl between them in shock, causing her to blush slightly. She nodded in affirmation.

"I can also fuse my youkai, or demon chakra, with spirits to make them solid for a certain amount of time, depending on how much chakra I give, and how long the person's soul is able to withstand the stress."

If it was possible, Arashi grinned wider.

"That's perfect! You can give me a physical form for a while when we get back!"

Mikiko gave a small smile and nodded a little.

"Hai."

Yurei cleared her throat. **"Whenever you want to leave Ningenkai, you can just ask a Shinigami whenever it passes by, Mikiko, or one of my personal attendants/assistants that wander around."** She waved a tail and a fore head protector appeared in front of them. In the middle of the metal was the kanji for ghost, along with a black pearl on either side of it.

"**All the spirits under my command (and Mikiko's command too since technically now that I fused my genes with hers, she's my heir) wear a symbol just like this. It can be a bandanna or head band, just like your fore head protectors. They can be human spirits, demon spirits, or animal spirits. You'll recognize them when you see them."**

Arashi nodded and smiled at Mikiko again, who returned it. Yurei looked at Sarutobi.

"**What is it you wish to do, Sarutobi?"**

The former Hokage pondered this question before turning and smiling at the Leaf Council. He looked back at the leader of the Shinigami.

"I wish to stay in Ningenkai until I am ready to leave, just like Arashi, Yurei-sama."

She glanced at the other members of her council. Most of them nodded, agreeing. She gazed back at the Sandaime.

"**Permission granted. This session with the Grand Council and the Demon Council is now over."**

With that, every demon and spirit except Tenshi, Kyuubi, and Yurei left in various bursts of colored lights, smoke, or elements. The three council members left turned to look at the Leaf Council, who mostly looked as if they had head aches. It must have been too much information to process at once. Kyuubi snickered.

"**I guess that was too much for their puny human brains to handle all at once."** Frowning, Yurei smacked the back of Kyuubi's head with a tail, making him do a face plant. The contact from Kyuubi's skull and the earth caused a minor earth quake. Yurei and Tenshi walked (or flew in Tenshi's case) up to the humans and Mikiko. Sitting next to Mikiko, she tilted her massive head.

"**You all realize that what you just heard is our version of an S-Class secret, right? You can tell the Kazekage, but not anyone else. Trust me, I will know if you do slip some info out."** She eyed them all.

"**You can't tell anyone else about Mikiko and her sister, Tsuki, being jinchuuriki either, until they use our chakra. The ability to communicate with spirits for now will be called a kinjutsu from Mist, if she ever uses it in public, since technically, she's the only one that can do so. Is that understood?"**

She got a few "Hai"s and nods in understanding.

Tenshi grinned at Yurei before patting her on the shoulder and mock saluting.

"Well! I gotta go. Take care everyone!" He was about to leave, when he froze and turned to look at Mikiko.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Yurei, doesn't Mikiko-chan deserve another tail for going into the Shinigami's stomach and coming back without incident?" He laughed at the slightly bewildered face of the young Hakumei. Yurei grinned.

"**Yeah, sure sure."**

Still chuckling, Tenshi put the diamond of his staff on her head as Yurei did the same with a tail. Mikiko glowed white before the white chakra gathered into the shape of a tail. With a crack and a cry of pain from Mikiko, a tail sprouted from her spine and replaced the chakra tail.

Tenshi removed his staff, saluted again, and disappeared in a burst of green light.

((AN: Who wouldn't cry out in pain if your spine split into two and some bone forcibly grew into a tail? Ouch.))

Shikamaru rubbed his temples in an attempt to shoo his head ache away after watching Mikiko get another tail.

"Troublesome…Mikiko-san. Can we go back now?" This was followed by some murmurs of agreement. Today was tiring, and the meeting had started at 2 o clock!

Mikiko got over her pain and nodded. Yurei and Kyuubi both disappeared and went into their respective seals. The girl formed an unknown hand seal (which Kyuubi had identified as a demon hand seal) and the world grew black, thrusting everyone back into the council room.

After landing painfully (depending on _how_ they landed), the council started to talk to themselves, allowing Mikiko to gather her things and put them on again. Mikiko picked up the scroll with one of her tails and walked towards Naruto, who was currently grumbling about Kyuubi not telling him all this before.

"Naruto-sama. Here is the scroll. My sister and my sensei will come in about a week to deliver the next scroll, which contains information about half demons."

Grinning, Naruto nodded and took the scroll. He cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

It didn't work. A vein popped up on Naruto's head. Seeing this and knowing what he was going to do, Sasuke and Sakura covered their ears. Mikiko, however, was not so fortunate. Naruto took in a deep breath.

"QUIET!"

Silence.

Mikiko winced in pain and rubbed her wolf ears, which were ringing. Being right next to the hyperactive (though not so hyperactive anymore, as Naruto grew up, if only physically) Hokage, she received the full force of his yell. Naruto was oblivious to her pain.

"The Council meeting is over now. And remember, no telling! Everything you heard in this meeting is now an S-Class village secret."

Still muttering to themselves, most of the council proceeded to file out of the room. Jiraiya, Sasuke, Sakura, Tsunade, Kakashi, and Naruto stayed. Naruto playfully poked Mikiko on the shoulder.

"Ne, ne, Mikiko-chan! What about otou-san and the old man?"

Nodding, she looked around the room and saw Arashi and Sarutobi discussing what they were going to do now that they were "brought back", along with other various spirits that liked to listen in on these meetings. She walked towards a seemingly empty corner of the room, but not before giving the eavesdropping spirits a glare that said "get out and don't do this again". They complied quickly and left, startled that she was able to see them.

"Arashi-sama, Sarutobi-sama, I'm going to give you the ability to have a solid body for about an hour. Is that all right with you? I have to leave soon…"

Now that the two spirits were in Ningenkai, they were nearly colorless and transparent. They looked at the two transparent creatures floating next to the genin and blinked. They had _never_ seen those things before in their lives.

Floating on her right was some sort of jackal like creature with short black fur and claw like paws. Around its head and neck were a black shaggy mane and a black shaggy tail. Cold blue eyes pierced through the darkness of its fur. Its head reached up to about 4 feet.

On Mikiko's left was what looked like a small flame colored phoenix with a long, peacock like tail. This one also has blue eyes, though these looked more inviting, and friendly. It only looked about 2 feet tall, though its wing span should be about four to five feet.

Both of these creatures had a collar just like Mikiko around their necks, with the symbol of Yurei's assistants.

The jackal growled roughly. "What the hell are you looking at?" The phoenix cawed before shaking its feather head at it.

"Now now, don't be rude," it looked at the two gawking ghosts and let out a musical hoot,"we are Miko-chan's guardians."

They nodded numbly before turning to stare at Mikiko, who was blushing slightly, having not gotten used to these two yet. She only met them over a month ago.

"Ahh…Mikiko-chan. Can you give us our bodies now?" She nodded, now feeling the stares of the now quiet adults that were still in the room. Mikiko formed the ram seal and concentrated her own demon chakra into the two spirit's hearts, making them solid and visible to the rest of the room. Both landed on the ground and walked towards their friends and family.

With a bow, Mikiko left as well after being thanked numerous times by the two Kazamas, and putting the genjutsu back up.

**End Chapter**

Mah…too long. And now my head hurts a little. Oh. The links to the pictures of Mikiko's ghostly guardians are going to be put up in my profile later. Names, abilities, and stuff like that will be in the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


	10. Secrets

**Kitsune Legends**

Maybe I should have separated the last chapter into 2...? . Ah well. It doesn't really matter now but if you don't want it so long I can separate it at a reviewers request.

Key:

"People talking"

_'People thinking'_

"**Demons talking/Demon language"**

**'Demons talking telepathically to their vessels'**

_**'Demons thinking to themselves'**_

/Ghosts talking while not in solid forms/Mikiko talking to them telepathically/

/_Ghosts thinking to themselves_/

-twitches at long list- Wow. I never noticed until now. 0.

Anyways, from now on I will not be replying reviews directly because I just remembered that it's against the guidelines. Meh. So I guess you can just review your question and I'll just explain it for all to see while keeping your questions anonymous (though if they really wanted to, they can go look themselves, ).

Hehe, anyways, on with the story!

* * *

**Secrets**

Mikiko stared blankly at Riku.

She couldn't believe it. Just one day after getting caught peeking, he did it again-- and at the same hot springs! Resting on the girl's head, the phoenix clucked her beak at him.

/It serves him right. Peeking on innocent females! And some of them were just hatchlings too/ Nukumi shook her feathery head in disappointment (her ghostly guardians were still only visible to her and other ghosts).

When Mikiko had gotten back from the meeting, she found Riku tied up with wire, sleeping (was it a jutsu?), with red skin, in front of her door. She couldn't tell if it was from being in the bath waters for too long or all the slaps and or beatings he had gotten. Although, she suspected it was the latter.

Retsu snickered behind a massive paw. /Ouch. It looks like it hurt. Should we heal him/ He grinned, showing off his fangs.

Inside the seal, Yurei was snickering as well. **'As much as I hate to say this, if we don't heal him, our trip back to Kiri will be delayed. Wake him up and get one of those Anbu to heal him.'**

Sighing, Mikiko dragged him inside the hotel room onto her bed and untied her team mate. She crouched beside him and poked his cheek. He groaned and attempted to swat away the offending finger.

"Mmm...five mo 'mints, okaa..." Mikiko blinked before poking him harder. He scrunched up his eyes and rolled over to get away from Mikiko-- right off of the bed. The half demon smiled. That should wake him up. Retsu and Yurei were now laughing their heads off.

One of the Anbu rushed into the room after hearing the rather loud thud. He looked from the red skinned moaning Riku on the floor towards the smiling girl crouching on the edge of the bed. He tilted his head.

"Is...anything the matter?" His voice was muffled slightly behind the crane mask. He noted the blood under Riku's nose and almost regretted asking.

"Nothing...I was just waking Riku up. Can you heal him?" Sighing, he reluctantly agreed, making some hand seals. Approaching the younger ninja, he ordered him to stay still and stop whining before healing all his bruises. He scratched the back of his head. He'd rather not ask what happened.

"Unless you have anything else to do in the village we're leaving in 15 minutes. Pack."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Naruto and Sakura were at the Eastern Gate to see off the Mist-nin. Sakura, being the medic-nin she is, noticed the multiple healing bruises that Riku was sporting. After a tired sigh from Mikiko, she figured out why, and frowned at the boy. He laughed sheepishly and scratched the back of his neck.

The blond Hokage had his trademark grin on. "Next time you're near here and have free time, you better stop by to visit okay?"

Mikiko gave him a small smile and nodded. "Hai, Hokage-sama." He frowned. "Just Naruto-sama, okay? Geeze, 'Hokage-sama' makes me feel old!"

Sakura gave them both a lop sided smile. Naruto had the same opinion as her. Was Mikiko always this polite?

"Hai, Naruto-sama. I'll visit next time I'm around." If it was possible, Naruto's grin grew bigger.

"Anyways...I wanted to ask you about your sister." The younger twin tilted her head but otherwise didn't object to the question. "What's she like?"

She frowned in thought. "Nee-chan is..."

How should she describe Tsuki? Energetic? Happy? Cheerful? She's never been asked this question before. People usually asked Tsuki about _her_.

"Different," suggested Riku. Mikiko pondered on the description before nodding in agreement.

"Hai, she is different."

Naruto pouted lightly. "Well, that doesn't help. Can't you give me another clue?"

Both Riku and Mikiko looked surprised at this, but for different reasons. Riku because he couldn't believe that a _kage_ was acting like a child. Mikiko because...it seemed, almost familiar.

"She is...," she smiled at her fellow jinchuuriki, "like you, Naruto-sama."

Naruto raised an eye brow before smiling deviously. "Like me, huh?"

The two Sannin suddenly imagined vivid images of a very peppy and loud Mikiko look-alike slurping up ramen faster than the eye can see. Little did they know, they hit the nail on the head.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Deep in the village of Kiri, Tsuki sneezed mid-sentence while reciting her excitement for her training to a very weary Katsu. Shrugging, she continued her very loud and long speech.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The two Leaf-nin waved good-bye as the group made its way out of the gates in the same formation as before.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The female ANBU with the tiger mask took the lead and made them run at a faster pace than before. Jumping from tree to tree, she informed them why.

"War will be coming soon. When we made the alliance with Konoha, Kumo and Iwa got a little...upset. Better to be safe than sorry."

Floating beside Mikiko at the same pace was Retsu. His hackles raised at the thought of another war. Makai always had civil wars. It was rare to be completely at peace. It was also the reason that he had died in the first place. Nukumi let out a soothing cry.

/Don't worry Retsu-kun. We have two cute little jinchuuriki and the two of us to stop them/

Retsu chuckled. /Cute little jinchuuriki/ Nukumi 'hmmph'ed.

/That's right! How can you resist petting them with those furry little ears and tails/ The jackal just responded with a bark like laugh.

/HA! I don't see you petting me/ He put on a mask of mock hurt. /Am I not 'cute' enough/

/Well they're still fledglings! You, mister, are an adult. If I pet you, you'd try to bite my talons off/

He shrugged. /True enough./

Mikiko ignored this pointless conversation (as interesting as it is to see whether or not her guardians thought she and her sister were 'cute', it wasn't not on her to-do list). She had better things to think about. Like how to learn to combat a dog demon that uses the wood element to fight. Water is certainly _not_ effective against wood.

She snuck a side glance at the phoenix spirit flying on her right. Fire and wind. She glanced to the left at Retsu. Ice and shadow. They haven't used their powers yet, so she couldn't tell how strong they were.

/Retsu-san. Nukumi-san./ Both stopped their bickering and looked at their young charge jumping through the trees strangely.

/That's Kumi-nee-chan to you, Miko-chan/ 'Kumi' let out what sounded like laughter.

Retsu snorted. /Just Retsu. I hate formalities./

/Hai. When we get back, can you teach me some basic techniques for each of your elements/

The kind bird just 'hmm'ed. /Maaaaybe. It depends./ She giggled. /We'll see when we get home/

Mikiko glanced up at the horizon. Circulating chakra in her eyes, they focused in on the ocean, where a boat lay waiting. She cut off the chakra and looked back at her human companions. The group was quiet, and looked like they weren't suspicious to her 'conversation' with her guardians, thinking she was always quiet like this. When she turned her head back towards the front, the Anbu looked back at Mikiko. He made a mental note about her behavior.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

4 hours later, they arrived back at the small island they had camped at before. Once again, upon setting up their camp, the Anbu disappeared. Flipping open a small orange book, Riku curled up inside his sleeping bag and read by the light of the fire. Before getting in, she spared a glance at the book. 'Iccha Iccha Tactics'. She shook her head wearily.

Mikiko sighed as she saw at least a dozen ghosts get attracted by the signs of life. Most were ninja who died here in the war between Leaf and Rock. The Iwa-nin had apparently used this island as a base, but were infiltrated and killed before doing anything.

Right before she nodded off, she saw Retsu get impatient with the fighting ghosts and snarl at them to 'buzz off you idiotic bastards'.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Deep inside Mikiko's mindscape, Mikiko was sitting before the demoness. In between them was a shoji board, and Yurei was winning. After some thought, the girl moved one of her pieces with a tail.

"**In the battle against Gobi…will you show your true strength?"** The demon frowned as she was beginning to lose her advantage. She countered.

"Hn. Only if necessary." She moved another piece.

The wolf suddenly grinned. She moved a piece, securing her victory. **"Hehe, I win."**

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

3 days later, the group finally arrived back in Kiri at noon.

"MIKO-CHAAAAAN!"

Riku and Mikiko (the Anbu had teleported directly to the office to give their report immediately after hearing the shriek of delight) turned their heads to the source of the yell just in time for Mikiko to be tackled into a hug by her hyperactive sister. With a squeal from Tsuki, both went rolling into the dirt.

Several foreigners stared in shock before looking around to see the villagers ignoring them like it was an everyday thing.

Tsuki squealed again before getting off her sister. After dusting them both off, the young Hakumei heir waved both arms frantically at Riku, who had an amused smirk, especially since he was only 4 feet away from her.

"Ohayo, Riku-kuuun! How was your mission? Did you guys get me anything? It was so lonely with just me and Katsu-sensei! How was the ramen over there? Was Naruto-sama nice? How was the trip?" Tsuki had managed to say all of this in one breath while dragging them towards the Mizukage Tower.

Oddly enough, Mikiko was relieved to be hearing the chatter of her sister again after being away from her for so long. And Riku was just glad for some talk after the quiet trip. Team 11 walked leisurely towards the Tower, talking about what they did over the last week or so.

Apparently, Tsuki got some more chakra control exercises from Katsu-sensei and they got to spend 'quality time' together.

When they reached the tower, Katsu was there waiting for them, leaning against the wall. He tossed a stern look to Tsuki.

"We're leaving tomorrow at dawn in front of the western village gate. I'm carrying the scroll."

Tsuki saluted. "HAI, KATSU-SENSEI!" The other members of Team 11 sweat dropped.

"Err, anyways, Mikiko-chan, report to Mizukage-sama, since the Anbu said you did more than the mission required. The rest of us will be at training area 34, 'kay?"

Tsuki and Riku shuddered upon remembering the first time they went to that training area for their real Genin test. Before they could retort, Katsu had grabbed their shoulders, and they were gone in a poof of smoke.

Mikiko spared one last glance towards the spot where her team was just standing before walking into the tower. Immediately upon entering, she felt the glares and/or fearful looks she received from the ninja and civilians inside the building. She inwardly sighed at their behavior. It wasn't as if she wasn't used to it, it just gets tiring after a while.

An hour after Tsuki and Mikiko were born, Byakko and Yurei arrived, explained who they were, and promptly sealed themselves inside the twins. Ever since that day, Tsuki had been praised as the vessel for one of the legendary four, and Mikiko was scorned as the keeper of the ghost wolf.

'**Hey! It's not my fault that the ninja here are hypocrites! 'Look underneath the underneath'…pheh! Idiotic ningen don't even bother to listen to their own sayings…' **muttered the wolf. Mikiko didn't bother to respond as she scaled the stairs and arrived outside the Mizukage's door, guarded by two Anbu. Right before she was about to knock, her wrist was grabbed by the horse masked Anbu on the left.

"Hold it, gaki. What the hell do you want with Mizukage-sama?" The grip on her wrist tightened. The Hakumei responded by bowing slightly.

"Gomen, I have to give Mizukage-sama a report from the mission I just returned from."

The other Anbu (this one had an owl mask) sighed in exasperation and was about to scold her partner when the door suddenly opened, revealing an dragon masked Anbu with a white cloak. An Anbu Captain. And not just any Anbu Captain, it was the Mist's Anbu Commander.

"Uma-kun. Just let the girl go already."

Disgruntled, the horse Anbu let go. Mikiko bowed again towards the two Anbu before following the Commander inside. He closed the door behind her before she sat in the chair in front of the Mizukage. The Anbu stood beside him a few seconds later, holding a folder.

"Mikiko. The Anbu said you did something other than what the mission requested. Please tell me."

She nodded and gave a brief review of what she did, purposely leaving out her 'favor' and the 'reviving' of the two Hokages. All while doing so, keeping an emotionless façade on. Satomaru nodded after she finished. He looked towards the Anbu Commander.

"I believe you've been wondering why Ryu-kun is here?" She gave a brief nod. Satomaru waved towards 'Ryu' to talk. He opened up the folder and read out it's contents.

"Hakumei Mikiko, 12 years old. Jinchuuriki no Yurei no Ookami. Secondary heir to the Hakumei clan. 4 years ago she showed signs of surpassing her elders as a child prodigy. Trained with her family until age 8. Trained by herself until age 10."

This must have been her profile from the village records. Why would they need that now?

"On June 10th 2 years ago she murdered over 100 Hakumei clan members and several villagers for unknown reasons. Sentenced to die on June 12th. Just before dying, a ghost appeared and made a deal with us in order to keep said girl alive. Quote.

"_You let Mikiko live as long as she swears to become an eternal guard for the Hakumei Clan for as long as she lives. She can also become one of the village's hunter-nin if you wish; to repent for her crimes. Surely you do not wish a weapon such as this girl to go to waste?" _

_Phoenix ghost_

Un-quote."

This came as news to the girl. A phoenix ghost? Come to think of it, where were her two guardians now? Phoenix ghost? Could it be Nukumi? Mikiko's thoughts ended as 'Ryu' continued.

"After 48 hours of time, the village council accepted. Mikiko was to live in her own little "house" just behind the border between the village and Hakumei lands. She was to be a hunter-nin and whenever she was in the village, she would wear a collar made of seals that would knock her unconscious if the Mizukage or her "surveillance Anbu" felt that she was getting out of control."

At the mention of her 'collar', Mikiko unconsciously touched her neck, where the seals only appeared when they were activated. The seals could only be activated inside the borders of the village.

"Once a month she would be sent out on a mission to hunt down missing-nin (usually D-C class ninja at first, then gradually hunting stronger ninja) and them back, dead or alive (while being surveyed afar by another Anbu unit). The ghost agreed to the deal as long as Hakumei Mikiko was allowed to become a Genin by going to the Academy and be on a team. We accepted."

He still hasn't gotten to the reason why he was here. All three people in the room already knew all of this.

"All throughout her Academy years, Mikiko has gotten scores in the high sixties, barely passing. She was put on Team 11. Jounin-sensei: Hoshigaki Katsu. Team mates: Takamoto Riku, Hakumei Tsuki. By this time Hakumei Mikiko was hunting C-B Class nuke-nin with her squad. Has shown absolute minimum skill during these missions, but always finishes them. Estimated skill: Mid-chuunin to Rookie-jounin level. Full capabilities unknown. Two months ago, Hakumei Mikiko and Hakumei Tsuki went through a ritual that fused them with their demons, turning them into hanyou."

He closed the folder and put it on the desk. The room was quiet for a minute after hearing all of this information again. Satomaru rested his chin on his hand and remembered his thoughts from a few days ago.

_The Mizukage was starting to get frustrated. _

_Now that Mikiko was hunting more powerful ninja, they still didn't know how strong she was. Chuunin? Rookie jounin? Then, a devious idea formed in his head. Why not put her in the field as an actual Anbu, but not as a hunter-nin? Anbu usually start as talented chuunin level ninja or jounin ninja and work their way up._ _Since Anbu are assigned missions directly from him, he can give her missions that will force her to show her true strength! She wouldn't die, especially since she was 'under the protection of the assistants of the Shinigami'. _

"Mikiko. Because of your success as a hunter-nin and the praising comments made by your squad, we decided to make you a real Anbu. ((AN: Hunter-nin are in a special branch of the Anbu.)) Since you were a hunter-nin, you will be assigned to a team that needs a tracker. You will only be an Anbu part-time, like before."

If Mikiko was surprised, she didn't show it. 2 years of nerve-racking hunting and training in the Anbu had done that for her. Showing emotions in the Black Ops was fatal. The Commander seemed to notice this, and nodded in slight praise. He seemed to be nice.

Yurei was suspicious. Why would they change the deal? She ran over the job details of a full-fledged Anbu in her head. She grinned. **_'Sneaky little bastards. Trying to find out how strong Mikiko-chan is? I'm afraid they'll be disappointed…'_**

Mikiko had come to the same conclusion as Yurei.

Satomaru bent down, picked a paper bag up, and handed it to Mikiko, who peeked into it and saw an Anbu uniform; just her size. She idly thought that it must have been specially made for her, since she must have been smaller and younger than most, if not all of the other Anbu. She then noticed that the mask wasn't in there. She looked up to find Satomaru smiling at something in his hands under the desk. He brought it up and gave it to her.

It was her mask.

It was a dog mask, with the kanji for death right in the middle of the forehead. It had a smile with two of its fangs sticking out, along with black paint around the eye holes that made the dog look like it was glaring at you. Black wavy tendrils grew from the sides of the mask, going in a circular motion that seemed to point at the kanji.

All in all, it looked pretty evil, like it wanted to kill you. Yurei suddenly imagined her vessel wearing it on a stormy night, stalking her prey. She snickered inwardly. She can't wait to see them piss their pants in fright!

"Katsu-kun said that a dog mask with black markings suited you, since the jounin instructor of new recruits get to choose the mask for them. He said that because you were the guard for the Hakumei (and dogs usually protect something) and have a ghost wolf inside you, he figured your mask should portray a black dog, the omen of death." Stated the Commander.

Ah. Now she knew why The Mizukage was smiling. It fit her situation perfectly.

"Therefore," he began, "Your codename will be Shikyo ((AN: Death. ;.)). You will meet your team tomorrow at training area 6 at 11 am. You're on Anbu Squad 5. Captain: Usagi (rabbit). Team mates: Uma (horse) and Fukurou (owl). This is the team that takes turns being my personal guards, so you'll have to do that every once in a while also, and you don't have to worry about not going on missions with them."

After he was done, the Commander spoke up.

"Get your tattoo at HQ before you meet your team."

"Hai."

He nodded and left the room in a poof of ninja smoke. Satomaru raised an eyebrow.

"Mikiko, why are you still here?"

She frowned at the thought of what she was going to be telling her leader. Yurei sent a few waves of comfort through her 'pup's body.

"Having Yurei no Ookami's genes has given me the ability to have visions. I had one during the trip to Konoha."

His eyes widened. He gestured for her to continue.

"Gobi no Hoko's jinchuuriki will attack our village with an army from Kumo in exactly one month. In my vision I saw a meeting that took place today. The jinchuuriki had red hair and blue eyes. He looked to be a couple years older than me."

Satomaru scowled and inwardly cursed. He took out a scroll and scribbled a message on it. He sealed it with his blood and his personal seal before putting it on his desk to give to Katsu later, to deliver it to the Hokage. Standing up, he waved Mikiko out of the room.

"Dismissed. I have things to do."

She nodded before forming the seals for Kiri-Shunshin no Jutsu (Mist Body Flicker Technique) and disappearing in a swirl of mist.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

The hanyou reappeared outside of her house (which was furnished from the money she got for hunting down the nuke-nin and other missions) on the Hakumei grounds. Sighing, she went inside dropped off the bag with her uniform on her bed.

Her house was about the size of a large apartment. The kitchen was connected to the living room which led to a hallway with the doors to her bathroom and her bedroom. The kitchen and living room had a peach colored theme, with some furniture to compliment it. The bathroom was a pale blue with white tiles.

Her bedroom was forest green; with a soft shaggy carpet (the rest of the house had a wooden floor). Her queen sized bed was tucked into the corner beside a window. Opposite her bed was a bookshelf that also had slots for scrolls, along with a dresser and closet.

The wall surrounding the door was covered in seals, which protected the house from intruders (she had finally been forced to do this after nearly being murdered in her sleep by an older distant cousin), being put on fire, being broken from the outside, and the like. And in case of graffiti, there was also a seal that automatically cleans the outside of the house whenever she pumps chakra into it.

Having a Sealing Master inside of you had its perks.

Frowning once again at the visage of her mask, she put it in the bag and took it towards the painting of a moonlit forest next to her bedside table. With a wave of her hand, it disappeared, and another door took its place.

She opened it to reveal a comfy looking room with 2 walls full of holes that contained scrolls, notebooks, and other various valuables that she'd rather not show to people. In the corner was a small mountain of pillows, where she sat to read, study, and write. In the middle of the room was a low table with cushions surrounding it and a kotatsu ((AN: Meh, I can't really explain it. Look it up))

Mikiko walked over to one of the empty slots above the hole where her hunter-nin mask was (it looks exactly like Haku's), took out her uniform, folded it, and put it in the slot with her mask in another slot.

'**Pup, your team's waiting for you.'**

'_Ah.'_

Making sure that the door was locked (and the seals were activated and had enough chakra/blood), she formed the seals for the shunshin again and teleported towards her team's training area with a head full of heavy thoughts.

* * *

**End Chapter**

So, now we know Mikiko's a mass murderer eh? Why did she kill them? How is she that strong? Why did she keep it a secret?

The pasts of my other OCs will be revealed in due time. It was just that Mikiko's past being revealed was kinda required for the plot to go on, -sweat drops-.

A Mary Sue is the perfect girl, right? Well I guess you can tell that Mikiko is _not_ perfect. She just so happens to be an emotionless child prodigy that is oblivious to things like 'affections' (Example: When Riku says "You really do care!" She goes "Of course, you're my team mate.") Tsuki is trying to fix that though.


End file.
